


The Sinful Nanny

by Saphira404



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Drama & Romance, F/M, Family, Friendship, Gen, Kagura Week 2020, Romance, Seven Deadly Sins, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:35:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 26,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27235861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saphira404/pseuds/Saphira404
Summary: AU Taking care of the human ward of a rich guy was the easiest gig for Kagura to finally get a taste of the luxurious lifestyle she so deserved, if only she didn’t have to deal with the kid’s alluring guardian. Kagu/Sess in honor of Kagura week 2020.
Relationships: Kagura/Sesshoumaru (InuYasha)
Comments: 46
Kudos: 44





	1. Gluttony

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Hello everyone as some of you may know I’ve been reading and writing Inuyasha fanfiction for over a decade, and despite some recent going-ons in the fandom my love for Kagura and the Kagura/Sesshoumaru pairing is still as intact. I refuse to let my ship sink, so I decided to take part in this exciting Kagura lovefest. Once again I decided to have a little fun with another AU fic. I hope you enjoy.

Part 1: Gluttony: “I want everything”

‘Having it all’ was a concept some might call a utopia and others pure gluttony, but to Kagura Onigumo, it was just her due. She felt that she deserved everything for the shitty way the world had treated her so far. Just because she was assertive and did not hold her tongue they called her a bitch, but one did not get what one wanted by playing nice. She deserved the best and was determined to get it.

Early on, she had figured out what could be her ticket out of her shitty life situation. When she was six years old one of the rich families her mom worked for as a cleaning lady had gifted them tickets to go to the ballet as a Christmas gift. It had been a life changing experience for the young kaze youkai. While her mom had grumbled that she would have preferred getting a bonus check, Kagura had been too busy watching the dancers on the stage. Their grace, their perfect movements, the way the public clapped and cheered for them and best of all their faces and names plastered on the front façade of the concert hall had been absolutely stunning to Kagura, She wanted to be just like them, and vowed that she would. That was how her dream was born.

After pestering her mom long enough she had agreed to use some of her savings to sign up her eldest daughter for dance lessons. Good thing that the school had pity on her and only made her pay half of the tuition. So what if Kagura danced with second-hand outfits and ill-fitting shoes collected from a donation box. The other girls in the class made fun of her, but she could care less, she was a much more talented dancer than they could ever aspire to be. When she danced, she felt as one as the wind and with each step she felt closer to her goal of earning fame and fortune. 

Since the age of six years old Kagura had worked hard to be the best ballet dancer. Her natural abilities were not enough. Countless hours and major determination had helped her achieve her goal. Soon she graduated from the kiddie class to the most elite dance studio in the region. Her teacher, a demanding French lady named Madame Pascale had been so stunned by her talent that she had agreed to waive the tuition fee in exchange of Kagura taking care of the studio and helping teach some of the basic kid classes. From as far back as Kagura knew women in her family had worked as cleaning ladies, housekeepers, laundresses… so cleaning did not bother her that much. Especially as staying after hours allowed her to train well beyond the studio opening hours. Dealing with snot nosed little girls in pink tutus was not her favorite, but getting free classes was her ticket to getting the hell out of the cycle of poverty her family had been stuck in for generations. Sure enough by the time she turned eighteen, through a glowing recommendation of Madame Pascale, Kagura had earned a full ride scholarship to go perfect her dancing in Paris. Her dreams of a glamorous life as a famous dancer was just at her fingertips, she could feel it. Unfortunately, once again life got in the way in a form of drunk driver.

Youkai were more resilient than humans and their bodies could withstand quite an amount of trauma, in fact most of them could survive a car crash, provided that they did not drive a rusty piece of junk on wheels with a faulty airbag system, which resulted in their head being severed from the rest of their body upon a collision. Sadly for Kagura her mom had been on her way home after spending the day cleaning the homes of rich families in the swanky neighborhood on the other end of town when she got in a head on collision with an underage kid who had stolen his parents’ SUV for a joy ride after getting roaring drunk.

Kagura’s dad was not in the picture, and she had never known who had fathered her two younger half-siblings, the twins Kanna and Hakudoushi. They had no other family, so at eighteen and two months old instead of flying to Paris to start her new life as a dancer she had stood in front of a judge to argue in order to obtain custody of her two siblings. Her fierce determination and the judge’s predilection for keeping families together had played in her favor. After all, getting what she wanted was her creed. Kanna and Hakudoushi were eight years younger than her, and less than a month after their mother’s death she had had to trade her ballet shoes for a waitress uniform, a tutor’s pen and a cleaning lady’s mop. Her dreams of dancing were pushed to the side as she looked for any job she could get in order to support her siblings. The brats were annoying, but she knew she was all they had, and she would not let them down. She owed her mom that much. Despite her humble roots and lack of money she had encouraged her daughter’s dreams; and Kagura knew she would not have been able to aspire to being a professional dancer without her mother’s sacrifices over the years.

The wind sorceress had agreed to a settlement with the parents of the kid who had been responsible for her mother’s death. Despite the numerous zeros on the check, the money had not lasted them as long as she had needed. Looking back she knew she should have negotiated for more money. After all, the reckless teenager had survived the crash and had probably gone on to continue living in the luxurious bubble his parents had created for him while her mother had been left to die alone in her crushed car. Back then Kagura had been too naïve, but thinking back she realized how the kid’s father, a lawyer, had managed to use her shock and grief to convince her to settle out of court and agree to a lump sum and sign a non-disclosure agreement. His connections had made sure his precious son got away with rehab and community service when he should have been rotting in jail for killing a single mom. Kagura knew that had she been able to afford a lawyer back then, things would have gone quite differently. Life had taught her well and she knew better now. She no longer had any compunction to go after what she rightfully deserved, by any means necessary.

She had worked hard to raise the twins, put them through school and dealt with their teenage tantrums. Fifteen years later, Kagura was glad of how things had turned out. Kanna was working and independent. Hakudoushi, that brat, was away doing his residency in one of the best hospitals. She knew her mom would be proud. When it came to Kagura, other than the fact that she was living under a mountain of debt and would almost undoubtedly be kicked out of her apartment within the month, well her life was fine. She could not help it that she liked the finer things in life and that sadly she did not have the paycheck to match the quality of life she wanted.

She sighed as she parked her car in front of her building. Her day was going shitty so far. To her annoyance she would not even be able to drink away her sorrows. She had just come home from grocery shopping and was pissed she had not been able to get the wine she liked as it had not been on promo as the store’s website had advertised. Arguing with the store manager about the misleading ad had earned her a free carton of ice cream, so at least that was a positive.

“Hey Kagura.”

Great as if her day could not get more annoying. She saw her chirpy neighbor Kagome come out of the gate of their building. Disappointed by her shopping she had been looking forward to enjoying some alone time at home. She intended to enjoy her beloved apartment as long as she could.

Kagura had blown her savings to be able to get an apartment in this building. She had been proud when she had managed to move she and the twins to this part of town. It wasn’t the upscale neighborhood where her mom used to work, but it was a nice, safe environment where they each had their own room. The financial balancing act had been okay for a few years until when on top of her living expenses she had had to help Kanna pay for her move and on top of that pay Hakudoushi’s tuition, which despite his scholarship was astronomical. He wanted to be a surgeon and she was determined to help him get there. No matter how much it would cost her. She was currently stuck in credit card hell. Sure, her addiction to nice clothes and accessories did not help. Just yesterday she had gone on another shopping spree and had broken out her credit card. Could she be blamed for her latest acquisition of the most exquisite jade earrings? The instant her eyes had landed on them, she just had to buy them, even if it meant going over her monthly spending limit. She knew she had more debt than she could repay with her current paycheck. The only viable solution: she really needed a new and better job, fast.

“Can I ask you a quick question?”

“Sure thing.” The wind sorceress managed not to glare at her human neighbor. She needed to stay on Kagome’s nice side so she could keep on being invited over. The young human did throw the best dinner parties with delicious food and fancy drinks. It did help that many of her friends were loaded and often brought over delicious treats. Just thinking back to the wondrous Cabernet Sauvignon one of Kagome’s friend had brought over at the latest party had the kaze youkai lick her cherry red lips in remembered pleasure.

“I know you told me that your sister teaches at a high school. Do you think she could recommend a good nanny? Inuyasha’s brother is looking to hire someone full-time to take care of his eight-year-old girl.”

Kagura decided to ignore the asinine question that implied an equivalent between a glorified babysitter and a trained educator. Instead she decided to focus on a more interesting tidbit of information. Inuyasha, Kagome’s long-term boyfriend wore fine clothing, drove a nice red sports car that she knew was worth at least five times what she currently earned as an administrative assistant. The hanyou looked way too dumb to her to be a self-made man, so that meant he must come from family money. Lots of family money. Following this logic, she was willing to bet that his brother as the older sibling would be far wealthier.

She suppressed her predatory grin and took on as pleasant a demeanor as possible. “What kind of person is he looking for, and if you don’t mind asking, what does he do for a living?” If she was going to try to get the job, she needed to make sure it would be interesting financially.

“He said someone who has experience with kids and could help Rin with homework. I thought I told you about him, Sesshoumaru is a corporate accountant for their family firm.”

Kagura almost chuckled. Corporate accountant meant long hectic hours and a big salary. She could picture it in her head, after putting the kid to bed, she would immerse herself in a bubble bath while savoring a nice glass of wine from the cellar, not the store-bought type. Yep, it was high time for her to move on up and start living the good life. Kanna had moved away to be closer to the school where she taught and Hakudoushi had gone away for school. Kagura was now living alone in a too big apartment she could not afford anymore. Getting paid to watch a kid while living in a luxurious house sounded like an amazing deal.

“Kagome, when did you say he needed the nanny to start?”

To be continued…


	2. Envy

Part 2: Envy: “That’s a real nice heart you got there”

“Here we are. This is Sesshoumaru’s place.”

Kagome had parked in front of a mega-mansion in the same neighborhood as where Kagura’s mother used to work all those years ago. Being back only a few streets away from where her mother died caused a pinch to her heart, but the wind sorceress pushed down her emotions. She needed to be clear headed so that she could charm Sesshoumaru and his wife and be hired as the nanny for their daughter.

She almost gasped upon seeing the house. It was beyond her expectations. Kagome had insisted on driving them as the security system would allow her car to pass the gates, saving them ‘a nice little hike’ as the human had put it. Kagura now understood what her neighbor meant. The lawn was ginormous and going by foot would indeed have been a hike.

“Sesshoumaru hates tardiness, so we should hurry up.” Kagome swung her yellow purse over her shoulder and headed straight for the front steps, Kagura following close behind.

Stepping over the threshold the wind sorceress felt as if she was being taken back in time to one particular afternoon. She remembered one time her teacher had been out sick and due to lack of childcare options her mom had brought her along to one of the houses she cleaned. The little Kagura had been amazed that people could live like this. All that space, all those beautiful things, she had been stunned. While her mom had been busy scrubbing one of the bathtubs Kagura had snuck into one of the bedrooms and taken a little souvenir for herself: a beautiful silk fan. She had hesitated before spiriting away the small artifact. She knew her mother worked hard and that her clients trusted her, so being accused of theft could be a terrible blow to her employment. However, at the time Kagura could not stop herself, she had wanted that fan more than anything that she had before. Why was it that she was stuck living in a crappy one-bedroom apartment with her mother and the twins when some people got to live in such luxury? She envied them and figured that considering all their riches they would not miss one small fan. To this day she still owned the artifact. Not only did it come in handy as a weapon to channel her wind powers, but it was a constant reminder that she deserved a better life. Looking around Sesshoumaru’s foyer, she could imagine herself living there. She was more determined than ever to get the damn job.

A dark-haired little girl ran down the staircase and launched herself in Kagome’s arms with a squeal of pleasure.

“Rin, you’re getting almost too big for me to catch you now.” The human woman joked as she hugged back the child.

“Honey, meet Kagura. She’s my friend and she came to meet with Sesshoumaru to see if she could come stay with you guys to look after you.”

Intrigued at the idea of a newcomer, Rin looked up and smiled at the visitor. “Hello Miss Kagura, nice to meet you.” The bright smile revealed a charming gap.

Kagura was surprised to see that the child was human. Why would a wealthy youkai raise a human child? She sensed there must be a story there. Once she was hired there would be more than enough time to snoop around an find out what was going on. For now, she knew she needed to play nice to convince the kid’s parents to hire her, but despite her best intentions, she could only manage a grimace.

“Nice to mee you too Rin.” Kagura forced her smile to big bigger. “I hope we can become friends.” She was amazed she did not barf after uttering the achingly sweet statement.

“Rin knows we will be good friends!” The child agreed. The way she bobbed her head in agreement made the hastily tied ponytail at the top of her head titter precariously.

“Kagome thinks so too.” Kagura’s neighbor agreed, running her hand over the child’s head.

The wind sorceress looked over the two humans. She was shocked to see how open both were. Just as Kagome had easily introduced her into her circle of friends and made sure to invite her to her gatherings and dinner parties, Kagura could feel the little girl was also the kind of person who could open her heart up easily. A part of her envied these two for their ability to be so emotionally opened to a virtual stranger. Early on Kagura had learned that the only thing that mattered was money. People were shit and will hurt you or take advantage of you if you let them. The only way to get past that was using them first and getting your pockets lined with cash. 

She had lived her life not trusting anyone except herself, and had fought by herself for the well-being of her family. But sometimes, only sometimes she wished that she too could be open, trusting and allow herself to count on others. How nice it must feel not to have to immediately evaluate whatever she could win from someone upon meeting them. She had been called a heartless calculating bitch in the past, and even she could acknowledge that she was emotionally stunted. But in her defense, had she not grown up like she did, she would not be wired like she was. She too would be nice, and sweet and cuddly. For a split second, she thought to herself that if she could have slit Kagome open and tear her heart out so that she could place it in her own empty chest cavity, she would have.

“Ms. Onigumo?”

The male voice calling to her pulled her out of her dark thoughts. She looked away from the snuggling Kagome and Rin to face the newcomer. She faltered. The man, an inu youkai was way hotter than she had expected. She had met Inuyasha, and sure he was cute, but with a boyish charm, but his older brother, he was just stunning. Too bad the fine male was already taken with a family of his own. She wouldn’t have minded having some fun nights with him. 

“Step into my study so we may speak.”

“Sure.” She cleared her throat to remove all traces of her attraction. “Lead the way.”

She followed him through a long corridor that ran through the house. Her eyes darting all over as she took in the gleaming wood flooring, plush oriental rugs and beautiful artwork hung on the walls. She realized then that she had indeed hit the jackpot. She needed to get that job. 

Kagura had barely had time to sit and analyze the richly appointed study that the man started questioning her.

“Name and credentials?”

She put her game face on. It was show time. “Kagura Onigumo. I have extensive experience in childcare and I’ve worked for many years as a tutor and an instructor.” She fished from her purse her freshly updated, and slightly embellished, resume and slid it towards him. Who knew that her years raising the twins and tutoring kids after school to make a few bucks would come in handy? Maybe Rin would be interested in learning ballet, she could throw in some classes too.

“Will your wife be joining us?” Kagome had not mentioned a Mrs. Sesshoumaru, but if Kagura was going to do her dog and pony show she wished to only do it once. No sense in having to find a way to charm Rin’s mother as well.

Sesshoumaru did not answer. Instead he briefly ran his amber eyes over the sheet of paper before pushing it to the side. That irked her, she had put quite a bit of effort to prepare that resume. 

“Inuyasha’s human seems to think that you would be a good fit as Rin’s nanny, why?”

She was taken aback to hear him refer to Kagome like this, but she recovered quickly. It would take more than that to destabilize her. “Other than my professional experience I’m the most competent person as I raised my sister and brother alone while I was still a teenager myself.” Kagura paused to briefly collect her thoughts. She did not like sharing about her life, but she needed to convince the man to hire her. Thinking about Hakudouushi’s upcoming tuition payment was enough to bring a note of despair in her voice. She needed that job. 

“After our mom died, I fought hard to get custody so I could take care of them. I did a damn good job. Now Kanna teaches high-school and Haku is going to be a surgeon.” She was damn proud of the job she had done raising the twins and would be happy to shout their accomplishments on every roof. “In comparison to raising two teenage youkai, one sweet human child will be easy to handle. I’m the best nanny you could find. I may not have a degree from a fancy school, but I have strength, grit and determination. I can do just about anything.”

A long silence followed her statement. Thinking this might be some intimidation tactic, Kagura stared back into Sesshoumaru’s eyes without blinking. It was not an easy feat, the man was beyond intimidating, but as she told him she was highly determined. 

“How much?” He suddenly asked.

“Sorry, what?”

“Your salary, how much do you expect to be paid?”

Kagura rattled off an obnoxiously high number that she did not expect him to accept. She had looked up online the going rate for fancy nannies who graduated from famous schools and decided to align herself. She needed to pay off her debt and she had to admit she had her eyes on the most gorgeous leather purse. “And of course that doesn’t include room and board.” She figured if Sesshoumaru had not shut her down, she could keep pushing her luck. 

Another long pause. As he stared at her, she took her time to study his features. The man was indeed gorgeous. Maybe she could give him some private tutoring lessons, very private lessons. She almost blushed at her dirty thoughts. She needed to focus. Her libido had been dormant since her last disastrous relationship ended, now was not the time for it to rear its head. She pushed down her attraction and placed a cold mask on her face, mirroring her interviewer’s facial expression.

“You start tomorrow. Be here at eight in the morning.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As soon as Kagome had driven her home, Kagura had sent in her notice to her job. As an executive assistant staffed by a temp agency, she knew she would not be missed. She had immediately started making provisions to pack up her apartment and move in with the Tashio family. To her surprise Kagome had been a huge help. By that very afternoon she had a team of professional movers come in, pack up Kagura’s stuff and move her furniture in a storge unit while her personal things were packed up and delivered to Sesshoumaru’s house. The sure to be hefty price for such quick and professional service had worried the kaze youkai. When she had asked Kagome how much all of this would cost, her soon to be former neighbor had shrugged her shoulders and answered that Sesshoumaru would receive the bill. No way would she argue that point. 

The wind sorceress had shown up the next morning bright and early and had been introduced to the household. Turns out there was no Mrs. Sesshoumaru to impress. The inu youkai was the only captain of that ship. Sesshoumaru and Rin lived with a grumpy imp named Jaken and some staff came during the day to take care of the cleaning and gardens. By seven Kagura was settled in her own living quarters wich included a large bedroom, a bathroom with a bathtub, and a dressing area fit to display all her treasures. Her designer shoes and purses, her favorite clothes, her expensive toileteries and jewelry. Sure, four-inch heels, bright red lipstick and precious jewels were not proper nanny attire but seeing them rightfully displayed brought such joy to her heart. 

Things were moving fast, but Kagura was not the kind of youkai to hesitate or second guess herself. She had no choice but to make herself indispensable to Sesshoumaru and Rin and as long as she did, she would be able to enjoy living in such finery.

First things first, it was time for a google search. She only had one hour to figure out what the hell a nanny was supposed to do.

To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Kagura has made it in, but will she be able to keep her job?


	3. Lust for Life

Part 3: “Lust for Life: The Yearn™”

Fake it ‘til you make it. That had been the words Kagura had decided to live by while she figured out what she was supposed to do. To her surprise she had been doing quite well as Rin did not require a lot of upkeep. All she had to do was get the girl ready in the morning, give her breakfast made by Jaken then drop her off at school. While she attended her private academy Kagura had all day to do as she pleased. Then she picked up Rin, took her to her after school programs, helped her with homework, distracted her with teaching her a few dance moves, fed her dinner, then bath time, story time and bed. Rin was a disciplined child. Most evenings after dinner Kagura would place the child in front of a movie or give her one of her favorite books and she could then have her evening for herself. Kagura would then take a long luxuriating bath, raid whatever tasty treats she could find in the fridge without getting caught by Jaken the buzzkill, then enjoy the big flat screen TV before slipping into her comfy bed. This nanny gig was the easiest job ever. Plus it came with some nice perks. 

As soon as she had moved in Kagura had requested the use of the car Jaken usually used to run errands in. It was a beautiful dark silver SUV, and Kagura found it too sad that a tiny kappa was asked to drive such a luxury vehicle. He could barely see above the steering wheel. A few days after she had moved in she had waited for Sesshoumaru to come home and had asked him if she could use the car, he has been completely uninterested. She had taken his indifference to mean he agreed with her, so at the first opportunity she had swiped the keys from the toad with no intentions to give them back. Now she had full use of the car. Life was good. 

On Sundays she was off as Sesshoumaru spent the day with Rin doing whatever these two did. On her first day off she had asked both of her half-siblings to come help her move the last of their things out of the apartment and sort all of their stuff that she had put in storage before her move to Sesshoumaru’s place. She intended to give back their apartment before the next rent was due. None of the Onigumo siblings was sentimental, so the work had been done quickly and efficiently. What needed to be thrown out had been dealt with and the few mementos of their mom put in the storage space. They had enjoyed a nice dinner afterwards, her treat; with the safety of her upcoming paycheck she could well afford it. Kagura had expected the twins to use that opportunity to grill her about her new job, her new employer and her new life, but they had not asked her anything. Hakudoushi had just quipped that he was sure she was going to get fired while Kanna had simply remained her usual non-emotional self. She had continued on eating her bland soup, but to Kagura’s delight she had wished her sister good luck. 

“However do not sleep with your employer.” Kanna warned not even bothering to look up from her bowl. 

Hakudoushi spat out the mouthful of rice he had been about to swallow and Kagura gasped in shock. The only time she and the twins had talked about sex was when she had given them the talk about the birds and the bees years ago. 

“Why would you even say that?!” Kagura asked in shock. Sure Sesshoumaru was hot, but the icy personality was a major turn off. 

“I am merely giving you advice, but do as you please.”

“That’s disgusting. Why would you talk about Kagura having sex? Just gross.” Hakudoushi drank deeply from his water. At that moment he really hated his twin for making him think about the fact that his elder sister had a private life. 

And that was the end of their conversation. That was more emotion than Kanna usually showed. To this day Kagura did not know how her cold emotionless void youkai sister managed to teach physics to a class of high schoolers, she did have a suspicion, which she had never voiced, that she kept them distracted with her mirror.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had now been a month since Kagura had started being Rin’s nanny. Her first paycheck had cleared. It had helped to pay off a chunk of her debt… at least for a few days. She had splurged on a beautiful red leather purse she had had her eyes on for a while, some matching shoes and a leather jacket to die for. She had worn her new accessories paired up with the tightest pair of jeans the very next day, and she had turned some heads. She was the hottest lady at the school pick up line. Some of the moms gave her nasty looks, and she guessed that at the first occasion they would complain to Sesshoumaru, not that she imagined he would care. Talking about her employer, as Kagura had expected, he was a workaholic and she saw little of him. Not that she minded. His absence made it easier for her to enjoy his beautiful home. Jaken could grumble and cuss all he wanted, but she had grown quite adept at just ignoring him.

On that particular evening, Kagura was sprawled on the couch in the living room watching a baseball game and enjoying a nice glass of brandy she had swiped from the bar in Sesshoumaru’s study. The zesty taste was just delicious. A quick online search had revealed that particular alcohol was worth a small fortune a glass. Suddenly she felt a chill creep up her spine, she turned around and almost spit out the sip she had just taken from her drink, which would have been a damn shame. She gulped without finesse, feeling more of the burn that the delicious citrus undertones. 

“Good evening. You’re home early.”

Sesshoumaru stared back at her in silence. 

“Well, I figured you wanted me to make myself at home, so I did.” She rose the glass and took another sip. He had already caught her so she might as well enjoy the rest of her drink. She reached over to lower the volume of the television. “How was your day? Did you help a ruling dictator embezzle money from their developing nation?” She had done some research about Sesshoumaru and saw that he was some well-known hotshot accountant, not that she knew such a thing was even possible. The only accountant she knew was the website she used to file her taxes. Most interestingly she had found out that he had quite a list of colorful clients. That even more than inherited family money explained his lifestyle. 

He dropped his briefcase on the side table before answering. “No, I merely helped set up a shell company, so a billionaire could evade paying millions in taxes.”

If he thought to shock her, he was wrong. “I hope you got a nice bonus in the process.” She quipped. 

His upper lip curled on the side to reveal a fang. Was that a smile?! That would be a first. To break the weird atmosphere, she offered him food. 

“I kept you a plate if you want. I made dinner, I’ve decided that to preserve Rin’s well being I should take over food duties from Jaken.” She reluctantly sipped the last of her drink and turned the TV off. “Go clean up and I’ll heat up your plate.”

“Alright.” 

She had expected him to refuse. He usually did not eat at home, but who could blame him? She'd rather eat out too if the alternative was nasty bland food made by Jaken. His food tasted like he had never encountered a spice in his life. After a month of being subjected to that, she had had enough and had chased him out of the kitchen. Seeing how Rin had stuffed her face at dinner had made Kagura all happy. She was sure the little girl would thrive under this new regimen. Something told the kaze youkai her employer would too. 

As Sesshoumaru went to change from his designer suit to something more comfortable, Kagura rushed to the kitchen to get his dinner ready. She was glad to see the sulking kappa was not around. Ever since she had kicked him out of the kitchen Jaken had gone to hide in his room.

In a matter of minutes Kagura had served Sesshoumaru’s dinner. Considering how cold and formal his dining room looked, she and Rin ate all their meals in the kitchen, so that’s where she set up her employer’s meal. She had taken it upon herself to crack open a bottle of wine and pour him a glass. Of course, she had to serve herself a generous glass as well. He soon joined her in the kitchen and sat in front of his bowl of noodles. She watched him eat in silence and gently sipped her wine. The silence wasn’t uncomfortable or heavy, it was actually quite a nice respite. She spent most of her days with Rin and the girl was quite a chatterbox. It was cute, but still exhausting.

“Jaken will no longer cook for Rin.” Sesshoumaru commented as he slurped the last of his noodles. How he managed to make such an action look so sexy and dignified was beyond her knowledge. She took her mind long enough out of the gutter to register what he said. 

“Your fridge and pantry are empty of any good stuff.” She remarked topping up her wine and his. The bottle was already opened, it would be a shame not to polish it off. 

In response he pointed a clawed finger towards a drawer under the kitchen cabinet. She opened it and smiled when she saw it contained a checkbook. She brought it over. He quickly wrote her a check and handed it to her. She almost snickered when she saw the amount. It would be enough to keep Rin fed well for two months and also pay Kagura’s monthly installment on her credit card.

“That should be enough for this month. From now on I’ll keep you a plate for dinner.” She folded the check and put it in her pocket. 

“Do as you wish.” He stared at her for a long time then finished the last of his wine before standing up and leaving. Guess she was being dismissed. Not that she minded, she had enjoyed their little alone time and his silent companionship. Most of all she was glad her plan had worked. She knew one skill she had mattered was cooking. One did not raise two growing youkai without learning how to keep their bellies full. After a long reflection she had figured that her delicious food would be a good way to get closer to Sesshoumaru, and as expected her plan had gone on without a hitch. Actually it went better than planned, she chuckled to herself reaching into her pocket to touch the generous check her employer had given her.

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Kagura wouldn’t admit it out loud, but she was starting to like the kid. Rin had such a joy for life that it was somehow rubbing on her nanny. Maybe the girl wouldn’t be just a meal ticket and a way to get a taste of the good life. Not that Kagura did not do the latter. On top of the money, car and beautiful living quarters, she was even finally able to do something that she loved: dancing. Sure, showing Rin some moves wasn't the same as the elite dancing of her youth, but gliding and twirling on the beautiful parquet of the little girl's playroom was just delightful. Kagura could tell the little girl loved it too. She was putting much dedication in being able to learn the basics steps. She had not quite achieved grace and composure, but she tried hard and that meant a lot to her nanny. Kagura decided she'd have to ask Sesshoumaru to sign up his ward for classes. Rin would have such fun. Kagura and Sesshoumaru had shared more dinners in mostly silent companionship these last couple weeks and those little one-on-ones were the chance for her to keep him updated about all that was going on in Rin’s life. He might be cold and mostly emotionless, but it did not mean he did not care. He had a sharp memory and remembered all the days that she had a test, a school report due, or a doctor’s visit and was sure to ask Kagura to tell him about it. 

“I think Rin should take some ballet lessons, it would be good for her.”

Sesshoumaru took a bite of his steak before answering. “Find options of suiting dance schools.”

Kagura decided then that she would find the very best school for Rin. She casually wondered then if Madame Pascale’s studio was still opened. After she had failed to go to Paris she had decided to cut all ties with her former dance teacher. She had terminated her dance career and looking back would have hurt too much. She did not have time for such emotional entanglements when she had two grieving kids to raise. She had another kid under her care and decided to focus on her instead. 

The wind sorceress almost smirked, she quite enjoyed how Sesshoumaru trusted her judgment on all things Rin-related. The two of them were sitting down having dinner together. Kagura had grown tired of keeping him company while he ate in silence and had instead decided to hold off on having dinner until he came home so that they could eat together. Ever since then he did come home earlier. After dinner he locked himself in his office to finish up on work while she relaxed in front of the TV. All in all they had set up a nice little routine.

“Rin told me that her biological mother’s birthday is coming up. She’d like to honor her memory by having a picnic in the park.” From what she had gathered, Rin had wanted to honor her mom that way for years, but Jaken had never helped her as he claimed she shouldn't bother Sesshoumaru with such nonsense. Kagura had felt a pinch in her heart when she remembered how crestfallen her usually bubbly Rin was upon telling her about it. Kagura and her own siblings yearly went to their mom’s graveside on her birthday. They made sure to cook all her favorite food and even bake a cake. One of the few days the three of them spent together. It had been part of their healing process and she felt that Rin needed that too. Kagura had not quite figured out how Rin had come to be in Sesshoumaru’s care, but she figured the little girl must have a tragic past. 

“You may take her.”

Just because Sesshoumaru had come home with a beautiful Bordeaux wine that paired wonderfully with the steak she had told him the previous evening she would be making for dinner did not mean she would let him off the hook. 

“I don’t see why I should suffer alone by spending an entire afternoon sitting on the grass and playing with Rin...” Realizing how harsh her words sounded she attempted to cajole him. “I mean… I’m sure Rin would like it if you joined too.” 

“I have work to do.”

She could have argued more, but the wine had made her mellow. Whatever, if the ice block did not want to support Rin, she would make sure the little girl had fun. 

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“Oh no, Miss Kagura look!”

After what felt like hours traipsing around the park while Rin sought a spot where she wanted them to set up their picnic the kid had to find a dead bird under the tree she had chosen. Had Kagura been superstitious she would have thought it to be a bad omen. They had finally ended up in a secluded part of the park within a nice clearing surrounded by tall balding trees and bordered by a river. She would be damned before the kid decided to choose another spot. She slipped her hand in her purse and fished out her fan. With a gentle gesture, she reanimated the corpse. For once her necromancy powers were coming in handy.

“It was just taking a nap. Look now its flying away.” One more twirl of her fan and the zombie bird was flying well away from them. 

“Bye-bye bird, sorry we disturbed your nap.” Rin waved enthusiastically. Kagura envied her innocence. How did the child not notice that the bird was half decomposed and flying without flapping its wings?

“Why don’t you set up the blanket and food?” Kagura was eager to distract the kid so she could let the damn bird fall back behind the bush somewhere and rest in peace. A part of her was already regretting setting up this outing. She could have just dropped Rin at dance class and gone to the mall. Damn her and her conscience. 

“Rin wants to go pick up flowers to decorate our blanket first.” She enthusiastically pointed towards a patch of flowers growing on the banks of the river that was running through the park. It was only a few feet away. 

“Okay, but be careful not to slip.” The wind sorceress rolled out their blanket and in a matter of minutes had their food set up. She flicked her fan to pluck some dangling autumn leaves from the tree and place them in a little basket shape, it would make a fitting display for Rin’s flower arrangement. She was quite happy with her work.

“Alright, come and eat.” Kagura called out.

A terrifying splash sound was the answer she got. Dread seizing her heart, she turned around and as she feared saw none other than Rin’s orange coat quickly sinking under the water. Without a thought, she rushed to the river and jumped after the little girl. Cold seized her, shocking her entire system. She felt herself being immediately pulled towards the bottom of the waterways, but she kicked her legs, hoping not to sink any deeper. Her panic rose. Where was Rin? The water was murky. She could barely see anything. Suddenly she saw an orange shape. Instinctively Kagura raised her fan and directed her powers towards the mass. A tornado suddenly manifested itself and to her relief she felt the weight getting lifted out of the water. In a last ditch effort she pushed her arm forward and hoped the wind propelled the child safely to the solid earth. Kagura could barely move. The cute leather jacket and jeans she had worn to protect herself against the fall chill now constricted her movement. Her body felt so heavy. She then realized that she was sinking deeper. She panicked. She tried to paddle, but instead of moving upwards she was sinking deeper. She could not breathe. Her lungs were on fire. Her chest felt tight as if her heart was being squeezed. She tried to force her legs to move, but despite her efforts she kept sinking deeper. The water was fighting against her and she suddenly could not raise her arm to use her fan anymore. Still her panic rose. Her lungs were screaming for air. No. This was not how things were supposed to end. She was only now getting a taste of the lifestyle she had wanted for so long. She wanted to keep on living. She still wanted to experience so much more. Then everything went dark.

To be continued...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Don’t hate me, I’ll have the next chapter up tomorrow as we continue with Kagura week. The theme will be Avarice.


	4. Avarice

Part 4: Avarice: “Remember that time you let me die? Here’s how you can make it up to me”

Turns out death was not at all as Kagura thought it was going to feel. She had not expected big pearly gates, but constricting chest pain, blinding light and nausea was definitely not what she had expected. She forced her eyes open and her sensitive orbs were assaulted by a streak of sun. The light exposure accentuated her dizziness. She sat up, too quickly, an action she immediately regretted, then leaned to the side so she could throw up. Lovely. 

“Lovely indeed.” A freezing cold voice echoed. She realized then that she had spoken out loud. 

She blinked a couple times to clear her vision. To her shock she saw Sesshoumaru kneeling next to her, he was dripping wet, his long lustrous hair now plastered all over his face and he looked absolutely furious. Was it her lipstick shade staining his lips? She connected the dots: he must have jumped in to fish her out and had used mouth-to-mouth to revive her. That sure explained why her lips felt so warm and tingly. 

“Do you not know how to swim?” Sesshoumaru growled. She had never seen him display so much emotion and would have mocked him for losing his trademark cool, but her momentum was stopped when she had to bend forward once again so she could retch all the water she had ingested. 

“I didn’t think.” She finally managed to get out once her stomach settled a bit. “I just wanted to make sure Rin was okay.” She panted. Her breathing was still irregular, and her heart was beating so fast that her chest hurt. At almost 34 years old she had just found out that she apparently had a phobia of water. She had no idea the river would be so cold and scary. The moment her body had hit the water she had lost it. She had never lived by the sea and getting a pool membership had never been on her to do list. She may have saved Rin, but she knew that had Sesshoumaru not shown up, she would be done for. It felt as if the water had tried to demonstrate its mastery on her wind powers by sucking her right to the bottom of the river. She had been completely powerless and if he hadn't pulled her out, she was sure she would have drowned. 

“Miss Kagura.” Rin cried. The little girl had big fat tears running down her cheeks. She launched herself at her nanny hugging her close. “Rin is so sorry, you told me to be careful, but I slipped.”

“It’s okay.” Kagura wheezed. She ran a comforting hand down the girl’s head. The last thing she wanted was to scare her even more. “Dry your tears. We’re supposed to be celebrating.” She used all her rebuilding strength to lift her fan, which thank goodness she still had clasped in her hand, to summon a warm breeze to blow the three of them dry.

Rin giggled happily as their hair flew all over the place and their clothes got plastered to them by warm blowing air. Kagura was glad that the child had apparently not been scarred by this ordeal. One who did not seem to enjoy her drying trick was Sesshoumaru. If she had not just gone through a near-death experience she might have been scared by his frozen glare. Right about now she was just happy to be back on firm ground, breathing on her own. She had to admit that despite his thundering look, he did look all kinds of hot with his silver tresses floating all around him. She did prolong her blowing winds long after they were all dried just so that she could enjoy the view of Sesshoumaru. If she could have gotten away with it, she would have unbuttoned the collar of his shirt. Could the man not give the people what they wanted and unveil some skin? His eyes turned to thin slits. It seemed like he really was not enjoying her blow dry, or maybe he could somehow read her lecherous thoughts. Either way Kagura decided to move things forward.

“Why don’t we eat?” The wind sorceress asked as her winds died down. Eating was the last thing she could want as her stomach was full of river water and she was still feeling queasy, but she had promised Rin a picnic, and she fully intended to keep her promise. 

“Rin is hungry.” The child conceded her tears now forgotten. Rin dove for the basket. She had been so looking forward to eating all the food they had prepared for their special day. “Here Sesshoumaru-sama, have a sandwich.” Her beaming smile attested to how happy she was that her guardian had come despite pretexting a busy schedule. 

He took the offered food but did not unwrap the sandwich nor take a bite of it. Kagura forced herself to take the sandwich Rin offered to her. She managed to nibble on one corner of the toast before she gave up the fight. If she had one bite, she was sure she would puke again. 

“Miss Kagura, it was so much fun when you pushed me in the air. You brought me so high in the sky I felt like I was flying. From up there I could see all the river under me. I didn’t know the river was this big!” She paused to unwrap her own sandwich. “That’s when Seshoumaru-sama jumped out of nowhere and grabbed me!” She took a bite before continuing her riveting tale. “I was crying so hard that I couldn’t speak at first, but I pointed to the water and finally told Sesshoumaru-sama you didn’t come out of the water yet. He said you would and we waited and we waited, but still you didn’t come out. I said I would go back in the water to get you, but Sesshoumaru-sama said to wait. Then when I was about to go in the water, Sesshoumaru-sama jumped in the water and he got you out!” Rin was so enthusiast about her retelling of the event that she did not notice the growing irritation of her nanny. 

Kagura realized then that she had indeed propelled Rin out of the water as she had hoped but had actually not quite brought her safely to the riverbanks. That had been Sesshoumaru’s doing. Another major fact, her employer was an asshole who almost let her die. She sent him a nasty look. He may have saved her, but apparently only after Rin had suggested she would do it herself. 

“A youkai who cannot save themselves from a fall in a river is quite an oddity.” He may be right in his assumption, but it did not mean that Kagura was not hurt. 

“I’m a wind youkai, not a water sprite.” She retorted. “Besides I’m pretty sure there’s a water creature in there who tried to grab me because my powers got all nullified.” 

“Not an appropriate justification for weakness.”

Sesshoumaru’s words made Kagura see red. Weak? Had he just called her weak? 

“Miss Kagura, are you okay? Your wind is going everywhere.”

Rin’s query snapped Kagura out of her building rage. The kid was right, as her anger swelled a gust of wind had manifested itself and was starting to scatter around the contents of their picnic. 

Kagura decided to calm down. Why did she care that Sesshoumaru thought her weak anyways? He was a jerk and his opinion did not matter. Besides she had too much poise and decorum to fight in front of Rin, so she decided to change the topic to safer territory. The faster then got done with this little picnic, the faster she could get home and the hell away from that damn river. She still feared that the water creature would come and try to grab her. 

“You said you wanted to tell me about something Kohaku and Shippou did at school yesterday.” Kagura reminded Rin. 

The little girl chatted enthusiastically about some innocent shenanigan her friend Kohaku and cousin Shippou had gotten her involved in during recess. Kagura nodded appropriately as she barely attempted to keep track. The one thing she did remember was that Shippou was Inuyasha’s adopted kitsune son and Kohaku the brother of one of Kagome’s friend. 

Once Rin finished with her convoluted story Kagura chuckled heartily as she knew this is what Rin expected and she also knew laughing out loud was something Sesshoumaru would not do. She was surprised he had even shown up at the picnic as he usually spent Saturday afternoon at the office. As she pondered about him, she chanced a glance his way and noticed he was staring at her and not at Rin as she had expected. Their eyes met. Kagura’s heart pounded faster and it was not the aftereffects of her almost drowning. Despite her near-death experience and his lack of chivalry by almost letting her drown, she realized then that she quite liked it when he looked at her. Was it wrong that she regretted not being conscious during their mouth-to-mouth? She would have liked to get a taste of his lips. That’s when it hit her. Crap, she had a crush on the jerk. Great, as if her life was not already complicated enough.

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“MCL Scotch. I told myself I would try it once before I left this earth, and I think you owe me a bottle after you almost let me drown. One bottle and I will forgive you.”

“You should have been able to get out of the water by yourself.” 

“I am a kaze youkai. Wind is my element, not water.” She felt as if the reminder was once again necessary. So, what if she couldn’t swim? She could manipulate the wind and raise the dead!

Kagura had sulked for a few days, preferring to dine earlier with Rin and let Sesshoumaru alone with his own company while he ate dinner. If he had noticed her cold shoulder, he had not commented on it. She did still keep him a plate, which Jaken heat up for him. She was angry with the inu youkai, but she would not wish the kappa’s nasty food on her worst enemy. A week after the incident in the park, she was done being mad at Sesshoumaru. She would not admit it aloud, but she did miss their dinners together. Besides, he might have taken his sweet time, but he had rescued her and had even performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, so she could not stay indefinitely mad at him. He did kind of save her life after all. 

Sesshoumaru did not bother retorting, instead opting to have his last bite of rice then stand up and leave the kitchen table as if the two of them had not been in the middle of a conversation. Cursing herself for trying to extend an olive branch, Kagura put his plate in the sink and headed for her second favorite room in the house: the TV room. She got settled on the couch and started channel surfing. Maybe she’d order an expensive pay-per-view movie just to jack up the ice block’s monthly bill. 

“Here.”

She almost jumped off the couch when she felt something brush against her shoulder. How in the hell did the man move without her hearing him?

She turned around and noticed to her pleasure that Sesshoumaru was holding a bottle of MCL with two glasses.

“You had one of these?” She gasped in shock. She had seen a TV report on the alcoholic brand and had sworn to herself she would one day taste one of their drinks. She knew the bottle Sesshoumaru had handed her was worth at least the same price as the luxury SUV she had borrowed. In other words, way more than she could have ever afforded in this lifetime.

“I hide the really good stuff from prying hands.” He retorted. In a few strides he was sitting next to her on the couch. He broke the seal on the bottle and served them both some of the amber liquid. 

Her cheeks reddened slightly. She had made it a habit to grab drinks from the minibar in his home office and was sure that except from him no one knew the contents of his marvelous collection better than her. She did not give his attack any mind preferring instead to accept the drink he offered. 

“Cheers.” She toasted him before finally taking a sip. Her moan of pleasure earned her an arched eyebrow from Sesshoumaru. “It is delicious.” She took another taste. Ok, this was indeed worth a near-drowning. Sesshoumaru was all forgiven. 

“So, I’ve been meaning to ask, how did you get to raise Rin?”

She figured that she was entitled to ask. After all she had now been in his employ for almost two months and they were sharing the most expensive drink she knew.

He sipped some of his MCL and thought long and hard before answering. “She is my responsibility. My father stipulated in his will that I should look after her.” 

Responsibility? Well that was vague. She had come this far, time to dig deeper. “Why did your old man do that?” 

“She is his daughter with his mistress.”

“Rin is your sister?” Of all the things this is not what Kagura had expected. In the scenario she had built in her mind Rin was the daughter of Seshsoumaru’s deceased secretary or a baby someone had dropped on his doorstep or such nonsense. 

“Half-sister.” Sesshoumaru growled. “We have a different mother. As does Inuyasha.” 

“So your dad was married to your mom, but cheated with some human woman, which resulted in Inuyasha, then cheated again with another woman, which resulted in Rin.” Damn this was getting juicy. “Wow your father sure got around.” 

She expected him to be annoyed by her comment, but he surprised her. 

“Indeed, he sure did.”

“What happened to you mom? How long ago did your dad die? How long ago did Rin’s mom die? How come you’re raising Rin and not your brother?” He arched an eyebrow. “Nope forget I’ve asked, don’t answer that. I’ve met Inuyasha, Rin is indeed better off with you.”

“Mother is still alive and well. She lives in her Sky Castle. Father died when Rin was three years old. Rin lost her mother five years ago, which is when she came to live with me full-time.”

Kagura topped off their glasses and turned to her side so she could face him directly. She had sooo many questions about the Sky Castle, but she refused to get sidetracked. One line of questioning at a time. 

“Ok, something I don’t understand, your father was obviously an inu youkai, so how come Rin is human, I don’t get it.”

“She is a rare breed of hanyou. Her youkai traits are dormant until the night of the full moon when they manifest themselves.”

“Like some sort of werewolf?” Kagura gasped. “I had no idea this was even possible. I heard about the night of weakness for hanyou, but not the other way around.” Kagura now realized that Sesshoumaru had conveniently taken Rin on a ‘trip’ right before the full moon both times since she had been in his employ. She hadn’t given much thought to these occurrences as it allowed her to have free reign of the house. 

He grimaced at her werewolf analogy but did not reject it. “They are rare, and historically they seldom made it to adulthood. Hanyous are not readily accepted in youkai families. The ones who cannot even defend themselves are particularly at risk. Their own family members are usually the ones to end their lives so as to clean the stain of mixed blood from their family tree.”

Thinking of an angry older inu youkai attacking Rin was enough to make Kagura shiver. They’d have to get through her beforehand. 

“Nothing will happen to her, I guarantee it.” The growl in his voice reassured her. She was certain that he would keep their Rin safe. 

“Your dad might have been a horndog, but he knew what he was doing by putting Rin in your care.” She smirked. “Even if he hadn’t put it in his will, something tells me you would have taken in Rin anyways. You’re a good big brother.”

He was a good man. An ice block at times and a jerk all too often, but Kagura had to admit that he was a good man. A good man she was crazy attracted to. Before she realized what she was doing, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. Oh shit, she had just kissed her employer. Maybe she could blame it on the alcohol? She broke contact and leaned back, but to her surprise instead of pushing her away, he leaned towards her. Oh shit, Sesshoumaru was kissing her. She responded to his invitation and opened her mouth to deepen their kiss. It felt so good. 

“Last week you almost let me drown to death and now you’re kissing me.” She breathed out when they finally broke their long kiss. 

“You kissed me first.” 

She ignored his truthful statement and decided to get more comfortable by climbing on his lap and straddling him. She looped her arms around his neck. “I haven’t quite forgiven you for almost letting me die, but I’m thinking of some ways you can make it up to me.”

In the next breath their mouths were fused in another deep kiss. She did not know how they had made it to this point, but she intended to take full advantage. She ran her hands through his beautiful hair, caressed the marks on his cheeks and kissed him as deeply as she could. 

“Kagura.” He whispered against the skin of her cheek. She shivered in pleasure. This was the first time she had ever heard him speak her first name. She vowed to make him say it a couple more times before the end of the night. 

Sesshoumaru was not the kind of man to let himself be led, but still she was surprised when he suddenly stood up and started walking, taking her along. She instinctively tightened her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. She had expected them to make out a bit on the couch, but clearly, he had something else in mind. She was a bit nervous but excited. He must have felt her change in body language because he paused in the middle of the corridor that led to his living quarters. He slipped a clawed finger under her chin to force her to look deep into his eyes. She might have had an attack of nerves, but there was no hesitation. This is what she wanted. Satisfied, he kept on moving. 

In a matter of seconds she found herself thrown on his bed. She did not even have time to have a good look at his bedroom décor. Not that she would have paid much attention, not with the view in front of her. Sesshoumaru stayed standing, and slowly, methodically removed his clothing. A part of her wanted to be the one to unveil him but a larger part was enjoying the show. She was glad she had good vision because her only source of light was the sliver of light filtering through the blinds coming from the shining crescent moon outside. Despite the darkness, she could see all she wanted and more.

Once fully nude, Sesshoumaru worked on divesting her of all her clothing. If she had known seduction was on the menu for the evening, she would have worn something sexier than an old T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. She currently could not even recall if she was wearing a set of matching bra and panties. One who clearly did not care was her lover as he had her bared to his gaze in record time. Her train of worried thought was completely lost when he opened her thighs wide and got to work. The man might not talk much, but he sure knew how to use his mouth. His every kiss and swipe of his tongue left her in a quivering mess. Once he inserted a wiggling digit inside her, she was lost. 

“Sesshoumaru!” She fell apart with his name on her lips. 

Still panting she did not object when he flipped her over on all fours. Not her favorite position, but she guessed that came with the territory of sleeping with a dog demon. She expected him to slam into her and take her in a frenzied and fast coupling, but he seemed to be in no hurry. He reached for her feather pin and undid her bun, causing her dark hair to cascade down her back. He buried his nose in the mass of curls, breathing in her scent then pressed feather light kisses from the back of her neck all the way down her spine. She was so turned on she feared she might combust spontaneously. 

He felt her need and decided to finally give her what she wanted. He positioned himself behind her, making sure to cradle her hips in his hands so that he could control their joining and sunk slowly and deeply into Kagura’s welcoming body. He left her a few instants to get used to his intrusion then tenderly started his leisurely thrusting. 

“More.” She finally pleaded after long frustrating minutes, tears of need welling in her eyes. She was close once again, but his current maddening slow pace would not get her there. He rewarded her by reaching a hand to tweak one of her nipples, making her excitement grow even more. The release of one of her hips allowed her a greater range of motion and she started to thrust back into him, but despite the added simulation she knew she would still not be able to reach her crest. Long desperate moans born more from her increased frustration than the exquisite pleasure he was giving her escaped her throat. 

After long achingly slow rolls of his hips, he finally gave her what she needed. She felt a sudden change in his aura. Oh yes, he was going all youkai. His movements sped up steadily and all she could do was fist the bedsheets and try to hold on for the ride. 

He snuck his talented fingers from her breast to where they were joined and gently rubbed her hidden pearl. The effect was immediate. As pleasure coursed through her entire body, she fell forward in a boneless heap face first on the bed. Her arms did not even have the ability to hold her up anymore. Unperturbed, Sesshoumaru turned her around, covered her body with his and before she had recovered sheathed himself back deep. She was still hypersensitive, so it only took a few deep thrusts to send her over the edge once again. This time around he let himself go and they reached their peak together, their bodies intertwined. 

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Sesshoumaru was a fantastic lover. In fact, the best she had ever had. She was no nun. She had dated throughout the years. Even had a pretty serious boyfriend, a human surgeon named Suikotsu. Things had turned sour when she had noticed he had a tendency to disappear for days at a time. Much needed money also had a tendency to disappear from her wallet whenever he was around. She had kicked him to the curb and turned out once again her hunch had been right. A few months later she had seen on the news that he had been arrested for killing a patient by operating while high. The only good thing to come out of that relationship was that Haku had gotten his yearn to become a surgeon following a long overtly detailed discussion between her brother and ex-boyfriend about human tissue dissection. 

She shuddered in disgust at the memory and reached her hand towards the other end of the bed. It was empty, but warm. She had expected it. It was Sunday, her one day off during the week. Usually Sesshoumaru and Rin took off early in the morning and only came back in the evening. She had not cared to ask what they did on that particular day, preferring instead to go visit one of the twins if one of them was free or going to do some shopping. Her usual Sunday routine could wait. She burrowed her back deeper in Sesshoumaru’s pillows. She deserved to sleep in after the major workout he had put her through. Just recalling it made her entire body tingle. 

Lots of orgasms and a bottle of MCL she might have a penchant towards avarice, but even she could forgive Sesshoumaru for almost letting her die after all this. 

To be continued...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: A near death experience but a new romance? What is next in store for our favorite nanny? Find out tomorrow.
> 
> Thanks to KiwiWitch for leaving a review. It is so appreciated.


	5. Pride

Part 5: Pride: “Plays Little Mix’s Joan of Arc”

Little Mix’s Joan of Arc was blasting from the store speakers and Kagura gently tapped her foot to the beat. Pop music was one of her guilty pleasures. She felt as if the song was speaking to her. Indeed, she was amazing. She knew she was. The past two weeks she had managed to seamlessly juggle being Rin’s nanny, Sesshoumaru’s lover and the twins’ surrogate mom. Just a few days ago she had had to go knock some sense into the head of the headmister of Kanna’s school. He had tried to sign her up for behavioral improvement classes after a parent had complained that she did not smile enough. A good talking to and the threat of wind blades had set the old man to rights. Nothing was wrong with her sister, Kanna was just fine. Fired up from the fight, she had gone straight to Sesshoumaru’s home office where he had helped her work most of the tension out of her body. After a nice bath she had gone to play dolls with Rin. Yep, she was living the very definition of having it all. 

“Miss Kagura, I can’t find the costume I want!” Rin was flying all over the store aisle. Her school was hosting a Halloween day in a few weeks and all the kids were allowed to trade their preppy uniform for a costume. The child had been so excited that she had wanted to buy hers straight away. 

“We just have to be creative. We’ll mix this.” Kagura held up a witch costume complete with a large black hat and a broom. “With your orange leotard and pink tutu.” The little girl had recently been signed up for after-school ballet and as Kagura had expected she was loving it. Most days her nanny had trouble making her take off her dance gear once they got home. “I’ll do you hair in a nice bun and you’ll be the best ballet dancer witch this Halloween.” Who was she to judge Rin’s taste? If the kid wanted to be a ballet-dancing witch, then Kagura would make sure she was. 

“Yes, this is perfect! Can you put a feather pin in my hair too?” At her nanny’s agreement, Rin’s smile grew. 

From the corner of her eye, Kagura noticed an outfit that was perfect for herself. She quickly slipped it in the cart. 

“Are you also dressing for Halloween?” 

“Nope, going to a private party.” Kagura answered Rin’s innocent question. 

She knew exactly how she would put the ’sexy water nymph’ costume to good use. Something involving Sesshoumaru and the hot tub in his backyard that she had yet to try out. Her thoughts started straying to the previous evening. Guess he had really enjoyed the roasted chicken because he had barely put his fork down that he practically dragged her to bed. He might have initiated, but she had taken charge and given him a taste of his own medicine by riding him long and slow. 

“Rin wants to go to the party.” The child’s statement brought her out of her thoughts. 

“Nope, it’s only for grown-ups.”

“Why?” The child pouted. “Is Jaken going?”

Thoughts of the annoying kappa had the effect of a cold shower. Done with her sexy daydreaming, Kagura decided to focus on finishing their shopping. 

“You know what you need to be a great witch? A new pair of shoes!”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“It seems you do not fear all types of water.”

As Kagura expected Sesshoumaru had enjoyed her little surprise. She had been too curious to see his reaction and had not been able to keep it until Halloween. With some directions pulled from the internet she had readied the jacuzzi and had slipped into her costume by the time he made it home. She now found herself immersed in the bubbling water, securely settled within the cradle of Sesshoumaru’s arms. Her back was pressed tightly to his chest and every time he spoke, she felt his breath fanning around her ear, causing little chills to run down her spine. A chilled bottle of champagne and a plate of fruit were just within reach. Rin had been put to bed hours ago, so this moment was just for the two of them. Pure perfection. 

“A jacuzzi isn’t the same as a river inhabited by an angry spirit who hates wind demons.” She had to tilt her head to the side to look at him, but she wouldn’t move from her current position. It felt wonderful to be in his arms. “Besides, tonight I’m not a kaze youkai. I’m a water nymph, have you forgotten?” 

“Not at all.” He tugged gently on one of the strands of the blue wig she was wearing. She heard the satisfaction in his voice. She knew he would enjoy her costume. She did enjoy wearing it too. She knew she looked fabulous. She wasn’t being cocky, she knew she was super sexy. 

“It’s almost the full moon.”

This moment was supposed to be relaxing and fun, but from their spot in the backyard she could see the glowing moon taunting her. Ever since Sesshoumaru had told her about Rin, she had worried about the kid. The internet had been pretty useless in giving her actual information on her particular type of half-demon.

“Rin will be fine. She is now with people who know how to handle a hanyou.” 

“You mean unlike when she was with her mom?” Her question made his body tense up. Strange. Sesshoumaru had a complete mastery of his body, but her simple question had caused quite an unexpected reaction. Since she had him in a good space, might as well go dive deeper. “How was she like, Rin’s mom?”

“A woman who got in over her head by getting involved with youkai.” He paused. “However, I believe she is much happier with her current lifestyle.”

“Wait she’s alive?!” Kagura startled. He tightened his hold on her, keeping her in his embrace. 

“She is very much alive, but has no wish to see her daughter.” 

Now it was Kagura’s turn to tense up. 

“Before his death father had made provisions in his will to have the family estate pay for her living expenses and make sure that Rin would be taken care of. However this was not enough. She was a young human who had expected her older lover to spoil her for years to come. After father passed gone were the trips, the jewelry and all the gifts. She was left with a hanyou child to raise and this was not as much fun. After a year, she came to me with an offer to pay her off in exchange of her signing her parental rights to Rin to me. I cut her a check, she signed some papers and this was the last I ever saw of her. Last I heard, she married a human lawyer.”

“What a bitch.” Kagura couldn’t imagine Rin being abandoned by her mom. She herself who had given up on her dreams to raise her younger half-siblings was disgusted by the unknown woman’s behavior. “I could wring her neck if I ever met her.” 

“Not everyone is as dedicated as you.” Seshoumaru’s statement surprised her. She wondered then if her decision to raise the twins had been the reason why he had decided to hire her. 

“No way we’re celebrating her birthday next year. To think that I almost drowned because of that.” Kagura plucked some fruit pieces from the plate. Stuffing her face was a great way to cut the tension. 

“Good thing you did not.” He gently cupped one of the decorative shells that made up the bikini top of her costume. At the moment she wished he would discard the cold plastic covering her breast so she could feel his warm palm on her feverish skin. 

She turned to the side to give him better access, and at the same time slipped a strawberry between his lips. Non content of savoring the fruit, he took advantage of the situation to gently nibble her fingers, to her delight. 

“Master Sesshoumaru.”

The squeaky voice of the intruder made Kagura jump. The brisk movement almost made the light blue wig of her costume come off her head.

“Fuck Jaken, can’t you see we’re having a moment?” She growled angrily, sorting out her wig. She was sure glad the churning water and his tiny height made it impossible for him to see her revealing outfit.

“Master, you received a letter from the Lady Mother…”

“Place it in my study, and do not interrupt us again.” 

With this freezing order, Sesshoumaru dismissed his retainer. Kagura blushed red then when she noticed he had not dropped his hand from her breast. He must have sensed her discomfort, but did not move. 

“Yes master, of course master.” With a bow and an angry glare at Kagura the kappa left.

“Can you believe that…” 

Kagura never had the chance to finish her sentence. Sesshoumaru grabbed her face and turned her towards him to give her a long sensual kiss. In a heartbeat he reached under the water to undo the strings of her tiny bikini bottoms. Jaken’s interruption was now long forgotten. Kagura went along when Sesshoumaru turned her to face him and helped her settle herself over his lap. With a simple tug on his swim trunks he unveiled himself. She had full intention of taking advantage of this invitation. She threw her head back in ecstasy when she sank fully on his length. Sesshoumaru used a single claw to cut the stings holding her shell bra. He immediately leaned forward to press kisses all over her bared breasts. At this rate, she was sure she would grow to enjoy being immersed in water indeed. 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I warned you not to sleep with him.” Kanna gently sipped on her tea. It was her older sister’s day off and she had decided to come check on her. “Need I remind you that you have the worst track record when it comes to relationships?” 

Kagura growled as if she needed her sister's reminder. Sure, she had never had a long-term committed relationship, but could she be blamed if men were stupid and insecure and could not handle being with a woman as fabulous as she was? Sesshoumaru was different. He accepted her as she was without judging her nor trying to change her. He recognized that she was as amazing as Cleopatra, Joan of Arc and the Queen of Hearts all rolled into one.

“Have you not thought of the consequences if you break up?”

Kagura put down the cookie she had been about to bite into before her sister killed her appetite. “We are not dating. Only having fun.”

“He is your employer, you live with him…”

“Thanks for the useless reminder.” Kagura suddenly regretted coming to check-in on her sister. “It’s no big deal. Besides I have no intention to keep being Rin’s nanny forever. I just do this temporarily. You guys need me, so I just wanted a job that pays well while allowing me to be free.” No way was she going to let Kanna know just how desperate she had been for a job.

“We do not need you. Not the way you think. I have my own life, Hakudoushi is starting his career. I know you gave up Paris and dancing for us, but now what do you have? No matter how many shoes and purses you buy, you won’t be able to fill up your life.”

Ouch. Her sister’s words cut her deep. 

“Kagura, we are grateful for all you did for us, but enough is enough now. Instead of worrying about us, it is high time you care about yourself.” 

Kanna reached into her purse to hand her sister a check. “Here. I am repaying you for the money you lent me to help with my move. Use is to pay some of your debt.”

Kagura took the check because she knew refusing would hurt her sister’s feelings. However, she had no intention to use the unsolicited advice. 

“Thanks kid.”

“I am not a kid. Also do not come to my place of employment again. It was embarrassing.”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kagura was annoyed to have wasted her day off to go see Kanna. As if she needed to be lectured by her baby sister. It was her life and she could live it any damn way she pleased. Thank you very much. She parked the borrowed SUV she had requisitioned in the garage and was glad to see Sesshoumaru’s car. He and Rin were home early from their weekly outing, good. 

“It is a calamity, master.”

When she heard Jaken screech from her lover’s study she almost turned around to make a beeline for her room, but she wanted to see Sesshoumaru and on top of that she was curious about what had the kappa so upset. She just loved seeing him annoyed. 

“Yo!” She popped her head into the room.

“You!” Jaken pointed a finger at her. Great he had something to reproach her, as if her day was not going badly enough. “She took it Master, I know she took it.”

“Hold up, you’re gonna have to explain what the hell is going on. What did I take?”

“The Lady Mother’s necklace is missing. You must have taken it.”

“You probably misplaced it on a high shelf and can’t see it anymore.” Kagura’s mocking retort made the kappa turn beet red. 

As fun as it was to mess with Jaken, she wanted to cut this nonsense short so she could enjoy some alone time with Sesshoumaru. They had not seen each other since the previous evening, and she missed him. “Alright, since you’re so convinced I took it, why don’t you go look into my room? Just stay away from my underwear drawer.”

Jaken did not need to be given permission twice, he rushed to go in search of the missing jewelry. 

Finally alone. Kagura stepped to Sesshoumaru’s desk. He was nose deep into a stack of papers and had barely raised his head to look at her when she had made her presence known.

“How you manage to keep working with that toad screeching in your ear is amazing to me.” She walked over to the bar to mix herself a drink. Fun time would have to wait until Sesshoumaru was done working. 

“You just learn to ignore him.” He flipped the page and continued on reading as if she had not just made fun of his closest employee.

Her glass in hand she settled on the armchair opposite from the desk and took out her phone to start playing games. Sesshoumaru was gorgeous and she could spend hours staring at him, but playing on her phone was a healthier and less creepy way to kill some time. 

“There!” A triumphant Jaken came running back into the room. “Here is it, it was in her closet. She stole the Lady Mother’s necklace.” He was holding a large black stone necklace mounted on a gold chain. 

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not a thief.” Kagura almost rolled her eyes at the obvious set-up.

Jaken scoffed, his eyes stuck on the glass in her hand. “You’ve been pilfering the master’s alcohol for weeks now.”

Technically he was right, but there was a huge step between taking some wine or whiskey and an expensive necklace. She finished her drink and put away her phone. Annoying Jaken was also a great alternative to waste some time. 

“No offense to the Lady Mother, but this necklace is just not my style. I would never be caught dead wearing something so dowdy.” She trailed a finger over her beautiful jade earrings. 

“You may not wear it, but you could sell it for a pretty penny. Seeing your precarious financial situation, it makes sense.”

Jaken’s statement caused her to pause. This was not so fun anymore. “What do you know about my financial situation?”

“You’re drowning in debt.” He sneered. “The background check Master Sesshoumaru asked me to do on you proved it.”

“You did a background check on me?” She whirled towards Sesshoumaru. To her annoyance he was still looking over the documents in front of him.

“It was necessary to know everything about the person who would be responsible for Rin’s wellbeing.” 

She was ticked off. He should have told her about it, and weren’t people supposed to sign release forms to agree to have their employer look into them? More importantly, she was embarrassed. 

Sesshoumaru knew? About her family, her past, how she had grown up and how much debt she had? That crushed her. 

She wanted him to see her as the confident and sexy woman with impeccable make-up, designer clothes and gorgeous accessories. The woman who knew all about grand cru wine and could guess the price of expensive whiskey by seeing the label on the bottle. She wanted him to think that she could belong in his world. She now realized that he must know she was the daughter of a single mother who had spent her life cleaning other people's homes so she could put a roof over her children's heads and food on their table. 

Up until this moment Kagura had been so proud to be able to stand by his side. For years she had worked hard to craft a new, better image of herself. She had invested so much into making herself into a new Kagura. One who no one could have imagined had had to fight for every penny she had, and when that had not been possible, had had to do without. Even years later she still remembered every single meal she had had to skip in order to feed her younger half-siblings. She wondered too if Sesshoumaru knew about how much she had struggled in the beginning when she was left alone to care for the twins. She was embarrassed by her humble roots in a way that she had never before. 

What must Sesshoumaru be thinking? That she was just the hired help who he could bang on the side when in need of a fun distraction? A servant he would be able to discard when he grew tirded of her? No wonder Jaken thought he could easily get away with branding her as a thief. That would not fly. She would not let them do that to her. 

“You’re a thief. It is not surprising, like mother like daughter.” The kappa spit out angrily. “Your mother was fired by one of our neighbors for stealing an ancestral ornamental fan, and it seems you decided to take a priceless artifact for yourself. Good thing I Jaken, the ever-faithful was vigilant…”

“What the fuck are you talking about? What did you say about my mom?” Beyond embarrassment and doubt, now Kagura was fuming. On top of everything else, how dare the little toad talk about her mother? 

“Your mother stole a fan and she was fired and almost went to jail because of it…”

Kagura ignored the rest of his sentence. A memory of her childhood came back to her. Her mom had taken her along to a house she had to clean. Kagura had gone exploring while she was busy and had come upon the most beautiful fan. She had taken it for herself and to this day still had it. She had been so proud of not being caught neither by her mom, nor by anyone, now she realized that had not been the case. Had her small action really cost her mother such grief? Loss of employment and potential jail? How come she had never said anything, nor confronted her daughter? She must have known Kagura had been the one to take it. Kagura had trained in secret with her newly acquired weapon for months and when her mom had finally seen her with it, the little girl had claimed she had gotten it from a donation box placed in front of the supermarket. To think that she had been so proud of being able to fool her mom back then. 

“Your mother was a thief! It is a wonder how she was able to find a job in this town after getting caught, maybe she used her feminine wiles just like you to…”

A resonating slap to the cheek courtesy of Kagura cut-off Jaken mid-sentence. 

“How dare you strike me.” He cupped his smarting cheek. He clutched his staff in his hand, ready to attack the wind sorceress. 

“One more word our of your mouth and I will end you.” Kagura fished the fan in question from her pocket and opened it with a resonating snap. She was just waiting for Jaken to say one more word so she would have an excuse to use the fan he had just accused her mom of stealing. 

“Oh, so you won’t deny it, you’re a thief just as I said you were. Even threatening me with violence won’t stop me from exposing you for the thieving thief that you are! I will…”

“Jaken, enough.”

His master’s two words caused the kappa to clamp his mouth shut. He may not like it, but he would not dare defy a direct order from Sesshoumaru. 

One who was not as understanding was Kagura. That that was it? She expected Sesshoumaru to speak up on her behalf. After all that they had shared she was shocked to see that he could not even be bothered to look up from his freaking paperwork to address the situation. That hurt. She would not let herself be disrespected like that. She deserved better.

Would he not explain his actions? Would he not tell her about the background check, what he had found out and what he thought about it? She wanted to know, but she was terrified at the same time. 

“I am not a thief and I don’t give a damn about your ugly ass necklace. Screw you. Screw both of you. And you most particularly Sesshoumaru. I’m out of here.” Without letting either youkai time to react, she turned on her heels and stormed out.

She reached into her purse for her car keys and to her annoyance came across the ones for the SUV. She dumped them and reached at the bottom of her bag until she found the keys to her beat up car. It might not be as fancy as the SUV, but it was hers. No way in hell was she going to take one other thing from Sesshoumaru’s house. She refused to be branded a thief. She might be a nobody from a poor family, but one thing she still had was her pride and no one could take that away from her. 

Now, she just had to figure out where she was going to spend the night.

To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Is Kagura a bit too prideful for her own good, maybe. We shall see how things move along in tomorrow’s chapter named Sloth. Thanks for the reviews Shespitsfire and Jtdarkman.


	6. Sloth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Extra long chapter ahead, so enjoy! Thanks so much Shespitsfire for the review.

Part 6: Sloth: “Why Can’t We Be Friends played on a Boom box that Kagome, Kohaku, Rin, Sango, etc. are all holding under her window”

After her row with her sister, no way was Kagura going to trek back to Kanna’s place to spend the night. She would not be able to stand the ‘I told you so’ lecture her baby sister was sure to give her. Hakudoushi lived with three other roommates in a dormitory so that was not an option. She had just started reconstituting her finances, and she really did not want to splurge on a hotel; particularly when she did not know how long her homeless status would continue for. She was weary and wrung out and just wanted to take a few hours to rest and think before she took her next step. Sesshoumaru knowing about her past was a pill that was just too bitter to swallow right now.

Resigned, Kagura decided to do something she had not done in close to 30 years: spend the night in a car. She remembered a time long before the twins were born when it was only her mom and her. They had been kicked out from the couch of one of her mother’s friends. Her mom, tears streaming down her cheeks had promised her it was temporary and that soon they would find a warm place to spend the night. Kagura had not minded sleeping outside in the car, it had been like an adventure. Since her mom was there, she had not even been that scared. What she had missed most was not being able to soak in a bathtub. That had been their ritual. Her mom no matter how busy always made sure to give her daughter a long bath every evening. That was their fun time. Ever since then a nice large tub had been one of her major requirements when home hunting. Looking back, she now realized how terrified her mother must have been, but just as with the situation with the stolen fan, she had never let on anything about her pain or her fear. 

Unbidden, a tear fell from her crimson eye. She had stationed her car in the parking lot of a closed shopping center so at least there would be no witness to her meltdown. She allowed herself to have a good long cry as she was away from prying eyes. She cried for her mom and regretted not telling her how much she loved her and how grateful she was for all the sacrifices she had made for her children. In that moment she missed her mother so much that if felt like her heart was being squeezed. What would she think if she could see her eldest child now? Kagura was sad to think that her mom, who had been such a fighter up until her death would probably be disappointed if she could see her now. No. Enough was enough. Kagura finally managed to compose herself. She needed to keep making her mother proud. She couldn’t stay there. Some security guard was sure to come upon her at some point and wonder what a woman was doing alone in her car at this hour. She just needed to figure out where to go. Despite how much she was already missing him, she would die before she came crawling back to Sesshoumaru. 

Kanna might have had a point. Not only about her relationship with Sesshoumaru, but also about her life. The check her sister had given her would be enough to cover Hakudoushi's next tuition payment leaving her much breathing room financially for the end of the year. Without making any extravagant purchases she could live off the money she had earned these past few months and take the time to figure out what the hell she wanted to do with her life.  
For years dancing had been her whole life, then raising the twins had consumed every single part of her. It was hard to accept that maybe they indeed did not need her anymore, at least not as they had before. She had been a little lost living alone in their too big apartment and maybe Kanna was right and that to fill the void she had gone overboard with the jewelry, the purses and the shoes. Did that explain why she so whole-heartedly jumped headfirst when Rin and Sesshoumaru entered her life? She had not thought about her actions and their consequences only about how fun it was to care for Rin and how good it was to be with Sesshoumaru. Being with them had been a nice distraction from the fact that her life was… empty. She needed to stop hiding and face her problems… tomorrow. For tonight she just needed to find a place to rest.

Her mind heavy with thoughts of what she needed to do with her life the wind sorceress found a quiet residential street not far from where her previous apartment was and settled in for the night.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She needed to get up and go wash up. Maybe a bath would help settle her stomach. Who knew mixing ice cream and bargain price wine could make one so sick? Clearly Kagura had gotten too used to the good stuff while living with Sesshoumaru. Thoughts of that jerk made her take another large spoonful from her cherry ice cream carton and stuff it in her mouth. To hell with her tummy ache.

In the end she had only spent one night in her car. After going to a nearby sauna to wash up and set herself to rights, she had marched over to her former landlord’s place. She had intended to use her legendary charm to have him rent her a place to live. She was in luck. Her former apartment was still free as the next tenant was only moving the following month. The landlord agreed to let her stay there for free in exchange of help doing some menial handiwork around the building. She wasn’t that handy, but her brother was. She would get the brat to come do some painting and plumbing fixes for free. It was high time she put Hakudoushi to work. This kind of exchange of favors instead of money had been one of their mom’s specialty. One of the many skills she had taught her kids.

This agreement gave Kagura four weeks to find a place to live and a job and figure out how she would afford a moving service to get her stuff from Sesshoumaru’s house and from the storage space. She had so much to do, but at the moment all she wanted to do was eat junk food, drink wine and sleep. There were too many thoughts swirling in her head and she was tired. All she had managed to do in the past two days had been to go pick up her mattress, some clothes and essentials from the storage space and buy some toiletries and most importantly ice cream and wine. She had not had enough energy or drive to get more, nor had she had the strength to arrange her living area. She had placed the mattress on the living room floor and used it as a sleeping space and living space. She was still upset about her mom, Sesshoumaru and the ugly scene that had gone down in his office. She just wanted to keep eating her ice cream, drinking her wine and lounge on her mattress. 

How the proudful mighty had fallen. She missed her bedroom, the SUV and the beautiful kitchen. She would miss the nice paycheck too. She was a cold heart bitch who only cared about money, wasn’t she? She tried to justify her bout of melancholy with the sudden lack of access to worldly goods… but then why was she wondering if Rin had turned in her math homework or if Sesshoumaru had dinner. She hated to admit it, but she was missing the brother and sister duo. 

Damn she felt really shitty about storming out without seeing the little girl. One did not abandon an orphan child like that. At the time the only thing she had cared about was getting the hell away from Sesshoumaru. She would have called the house phone to check in on Rin was she not sure that Jaken would pick up the phone. Just the thought of hearing the kappa's voice made her see red.

Loud music suddenly came blaring from outside her window. She lived on the third floor, but she could hear it loud as if it was playing inside her living room. She put down her spoon and dragged herself to her feet, fully intending to give her annoying neighbors an earful about disturbing the peace with obnoxious music at four in the afternoon in the middle of the workweek. Her eyes were greeted with the most surprising sight. 

Kagome, Inuyasha, a small kitsune who she guessed to be Shippou, and a bunch of humans were all standing under her window. In the middle of them all was a jumping Rin. What the hell? This is when she noticed that the offending music was coming from a boombox standing on the shoulders of the scowling Inuyasha. Clearly this little display was for her benefit. Great. 

Looking down made her nausea flare up again, but she was so glad to look at Rin that it immediately made her feel better. She chuckled when the child did the cutest pirouette as the finale of the song ‘why can’t we be friends’ resonated. As she didn’t quite know what the musical committee had planned, Kagura slipped into shoes and rushed down. She fully intended to put an end to their little concert before they launched into another song performance. 

“Miss Kagura!” The little girl launched herself at the wind sorceress as soon as she was within reach. 

“What’s all this mess?” Even as she tried to look annoyed, Kagura ran a tender hand over Rin’s head. 

“We made a special concert for you. I asked Inuyasha and my friends to help.”

“Keh! How did I get roped into this?” Inuyasha grumbled. He seemed just glad he could put down the damn stereo. 

Kagura had a feeling that his love for his little sister played a role in his presence. Her heart gave a small pinch when she realized that one of Rin’s older brother had clearly not joined in on the celebration. She pushed thoughts about the unsupportive jerk to the side.

“I know I followed the beautiful Sango, who followed her dear brother Kohaku, who followed his friend Rin. Something tells me you followed your dear Kagome and Shippou.” A purple-eyed human turned towards Kagura to flash her a smile. “Had my buddy Inuyasha told me we were going to serenade a woman as beautiful as you, I would have come up with a lovely playlist. My name is Miroku, charmed to make your acquaintance.” 

He was stopped in his progression towards Kagura when an unknown woman stepped into his path. “Not one more step if you don’t want to be castrated.” 

“Dear Sango, no need to threaten violence if you want to come close to a particular part of my anatomy. All you have to do is ask, and access will be granted.” He retorted, earning himself a well-deserved slap from the woman he had addressed. Kagura had not showered in two days, her hair was a mess, she had red cherry ice cream stains on her sweatshirt and she was still a mix of buzzed and hungover. In her opinion she was sure Sango had no reason to worry that her man would find her attractive. 

“Let’s not forget we have children present.” Kagome cleared her throat loudly. “Rin, I believe you wanted to talk to Kagura.”

“Miss Kagura tomorrow is the full moon and next week is Halloween, I don’t want Jaken to do my hair, so you have to come back home.”

Rin had bombarded her with two requests in one, but Kagura got the message. The kid wanted her around for her night of transformation and for the stupid Halloween day at her school. The former surprised her as in all the months she had taken care of her, never had Rin requested her presence. She did not even know that the girl was aware that Sesshoumaru had told her that she was a hanyou. When it came to the latter, Kagura was not surprised. How could boring stupid Jaken turn Rin in a fabulous ballet-dancing witch? 

Despite all that she wanted to say no. She really did not want to see Sesshoumaru nor deal with Jaken. She tried to form the words, but she saw the tears welling in Rin’s eyes, and the kid had gone to such trouble to put up this little display, she could not let her down. 

“Alright, I’ll be around for you tomorrow and until Halloween, after that I’m off.”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Upon arriving at Inuyasha’s place Kagura made the mental note to grill Kagome about what her boyfriend did for a living. He had an isolated cabin style house in the middle of the forest on the outskirts of town. Before they parted ways the day before, the hanyou had texted her all the details about the meeting point. She had been surprised that they convened at his place for the full moon, but upon seeing it, she had to agreed that it was best to keep Rin safe and away from prying eyes. Inuyasha did not have any neighbors for miles.

“Welcome. Do you want a drink?” 

Kagura was surprised once again as she was greeted by none other than Kagome once she rung the bell to Inuyasha’s house. Had she missed the memo? Was this a dinner party?

“No thanks.” After her binge of ice cream and wine for days, her stomach still had yet to settle completely. As much as she would enjoy raiding Inuyasha’s cellar, she decided to keep things as light as possible. 

“The old bastard’s… friend has arrived.” The master of the house commented as he too came into the hallway.

Kagome smacked her boyfriend on the arm. “Everyone deserves love. Don’t make them feel bad about it. As if they needed that to make their way back to each other.”

“No one said anything about love!” Kagura sputtered. Was everyone aware of her private life? 

“Keh! Frankly I don’t care if you’re sleeping with Sesshoumaru.” The hanyou’s face suddenly took on a grave look. “The only one I care about is Rin. Not many people know about her. The information getting out could get her killed. Not all members of our family are as accepting of a hanyou.” Kagome laced her arm around her lover in a sweet embrace, giving him her strength and comfort. She knew some of his pain. “It’s better for the world to think that Sesshoumaru is a weird eccentric inu youkai who’s raising a random human girl.”

Kagura felt insulted by Inuyasha’s unnecessary warning. She loved Rin and would never do anything to put her in jeopardy. Just as she had this revelation about her feelings for the kid none other than Sesshoumaru stepped into the foyer. 

“The sun has set, things will start moving along soon.”

Following his announcement, he turned to go back to where he came from. The wind sorceress was peeved that he had not even spared her a glance or a hello. What an asshole. To think that barely a week ago they had been making love in his bed. His indifference hurt. A lot. Not that she would let the jerk know. Tonight was all about Rin after all. 

They followed Sesshoumaru into a bare room in the basement that only contained a bed on which Rin was lying down. She was pale and clammy. Worry gnawing at her heart, Kagura instinctively headed towards the child. Before she made it Sesshoumaru grabbed her by the arm. She wanted to protest but swallowed her words when she saw the torment in his own eyes. Grim faced Kagome and Inuyasha fanned around the bed. The four of them waited in silence as Rin’s body transformed. 

As the full moon slowly rose into the sky, the child’s body changed. Her hair switched from dark brown to silver white, claws grew at the tip of her fingers and two furry ears sprouted at the top of her head. Jagged marks appeared on both of her cheeks and when she opened her eyes, they were completely red.

“Is she in pain?” Kagura whispered. 

“Yes.” Sesshoumaru finally answered her question after a long silence. 

His hand trailed off her arm until it reached hers, he then gently unclenched her fist. It was only then that she realized she had been clutching her fist so tight that she had been hurting her hand. They held hands in silence for what felt like hours as they waited for Rin to finish her transformation. When she did, it was terrifying. Gone was the sweet little girl with a gap in her teeth. An inu hanyou with sharp claws and large canines who was lost in its blood lust was left behind. The hanyou sprung up and crouched on all fours, its blood red eyes looking at each of the four people surrounding it, assessing on who to pounce first.

“Come on kiddo, I know you’re still there. Come back to us, you can do it.” Inuyasha spoke on a sweet tone that Kagura was not even aware he could conjure. An angry hiss was the response he got.

“You got this honey, you can come back to yourself.” Kagome encouraged. This time the creature snarled. 

“Rin, control your blood.” Sesshoumaru commanded. 

Kagura got the gist of what was going on. Maybe, just maybe, their encouragement would help Rin take come back. She refused to believe her little girl was lost in that monster. “Honey. Just come back to us.” She too called out.

The small inu hanyou threw her head back and growled fiercely. Just when Kagura feared Rin was too far gone, the creature fell back on its back, convulsing so strongly that the entire bed frame started shaking. A blood-curling scream escaped her throat. Soon her hair was changing back, her claws retracting and the red rescinding from her eyes. Not soon enough to the wind sorceress’s taste, all traces of the bloodthirsty half-demon were gone, leaving an exhausted and shivering Rin on the bed.

“Did I do good?” The uncertainty in her still feverish eyes tore at Kagura’s heart. Before anyone else she rushed to the bed and hugged the little girl. 

“You did great honey.” She gently caressed the sweaty bangs out of the child’s eyes. “You were lack a badass werewolf.” Kagura did not know who was trembling more between her and the child. She had been overwhelmed by the scene she had witnessed. 

“Good. Maybe next year I can be a werewolf ballerina for Halloween.” Rin mumbled, burying her face in the wind sorceress’s chest. After getting some comfort she rose her head to look at the person whose opinion mattered the most to her. 

“You did well.” Sesshoumaru answered her silent question. “You have drastically reduced the time it takes you to control your blood.” Her eldest brother agreed. His rare praise made Rin grin wide. 

“Come on, let’s go give you a much-needed bath.” Kagome headed to the bed to go fetch the clammy child. They were used to this ritual. The warm water would soothe any of her residual aches and chase away some of her tiredness. 

“And I’ll go make our favorite dinner.” Inuyasha informed her. 

“Chicken instant ramen?” Rin grinned at her half-brother. 

“Yep, and I got onion flavored potato chips to go with it.” Inuyasha agreed as Kagome and Rin headed towards the bathroom upstairs. The half-demon followed closely behind his two favorite girls. 

They conveniently left Kagura and Sesshoumaru alone in the basement. 

Despite his cold mask, the wind sorceress could tell he too was shaken up. 

“Is it always like this?” She wiped a hand over her face, trying to hide the tears that had gathered at the corner of her eyes. 

“For now yes. She is getting better. We hope that eventually she will be able to rid herself of the blood lust before it completely takes her over. We will keep training and she will achieve it.”

His answer made her think about something. “Is this where you come every Sunday?”

“Indeed, Inuyasha and I want to ensure that both Shippou and Rin know how to fight. We spar with them weekly and for Rin we help her learn how to master her youkai half. Just because it is dormant most of the month does not mean it is inexistent. Once she achieves mastery of herself she will not have to suffer like this every month. Our goal is to make sure she is able to defend herself, even from herself.”

“I’m sure she will with you guys teaching her.”

“It is my hope.” 

Kagura was struggling reconciling this caring man with the lover who had treated her so callously.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?”

He arched an eyebrow at her unexpected question. 

“First you accuse me of theft, then you act as if nothing happened.”

“This Sesshoumaru did no such thing.” He stared her straight in the eyes. “Jaken made up this nonsensical accusation.”

Oh, so now he acknowledged that Jaken had been telling lies about her.

“Then why didn’t you speak up for me?!”

“I did not realize you needed defending.” 

She did not. Fine. Whatever. She had struggled to make her own way in the world and fight her own battles. What was one more? She could forgive him for that, but not for another injury to her pride.

“I can’t believe you went and found out all about my past.” She was still too ashamed to think about all that he now must know about her.

“I only did it upon first employing you as a precaution to ensure Rin would be safe. When it comes to your past, know that what you have gone through has made you into who you are today, and that is all that matters. Not your childhood, not who your parents were, nor your financial situation. This Sesshoumaru would never ask you to stay. You are free Kagura. You may go away if you so wish.” He paused briefly as if he was thinking carefully over his next words. “However it would please us if you stayed.”

Her anger deflated. He was really making it hard to remain mad indeed. She had intended to rant and rave and maybe send a wind blade his way, but how could she when he was opening up in way she did not even know he was capable of. 

“Us?” She echoed.

“Rin and I. Do not be fooled by her smiles, she is in truth shy. That is why her circle of friends is limited to members of the family. She has never invited someone to remain by her side during the night of the full moon.”

That to Kagura felt like an arrow straight to the heart. 

“What about Kagome?” She asked once she recovered. 

“My brother’s miko is… family. Rin has known her for most of her life. We first included her in these evenings as her spiritual powers came in handy to neutralize Rin’s powers when the youkai blood took her over. It was easier and less painful than restraining her.”

Kagura knew she would not be able to get out of her head the image of Rin being restrained to a bed while her body went through a transformation. She wondered how scared the child must have been and how in pain Sesshoumaru surely had been as he powerlessly witnessed such a gruesome scene. Her heart broke for both of them. 

“Things have been going better now.” He closed his eyes briefly and breathed deep. Before she realized it, she was running a comforting hand over his back.

“I’ll come back home.” Kagura murmured. The words tumbled out of her mouth before she could help it, not that she wanted to take them back. “I promised Rin I would help her get ready for Halloween. Plus I’m a lazy sloth by nature and I really got used to this maid service business. Thinking of having to mop my floors again is exhausting.” She still had a bit of pride left and she would not admit out loud how much she had missed both he and Rin.

“But, I don't want to be your employee anymore.” She had had the chance to think over the last few days, and she realized that Kanna had been right. Sleeping with Sesshoumaru while he paid her to look after Rin was just wrong. “I still want to be around for Rin and to be with you but not like that.”

“What do you propose then?” The note of doubt in his voice was endearing. Guess she had not been the only one affected by their separation.

“I want to move back in, but I want to be financially independent. I’ll still look after Rin while you find another nanny, but I want to get another job.” While they found proper childcare options, Kagura was sure she could balance job hunting and looking after Rin. The child spent her days at the academy and her afternoon at dance class, leaving the wind sorceress more than enough time to send job applications and go to interviews.

“That can be arranged.”

Kagura felt Sesshoumaru’s shoulders instantly relax against her hand. She was glad to see that she was not the only relieved one. 

“Let’s go join the others. Rin is usually ravenous after an episode.” 

They went upstairs in silence and met up with the rest of the family in the kitchen. As soon as she saw them Rin swallowed her mouthful of ramen and grinned.

“Miss Kagura, I have to show you my training room. Inuyasha built it himself it’s really big and beautiful and made in all wood from the forest.” Kagura was glad to see that Rin still had her same energy. She had dark bruises under her eyes, but to her nanny’s relief other than tiredness she looked fine. 

“Sesshoumaru was telling me all about your training.” She pretended to think long and deep. “I do have a suggestion. I saw there’s a pond in the forest. You guys might want to add swimming lessons this summer for Rin.” Her quip made the little girl giggle and Sesshoumaru smirk. 

“Keh! The old bastard is smiling. Creepy as hell.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen uncle Sesshoumaru smile.” Shippou, hand deep into a box of pocky agreed with his father. While Inuyasha did not allow him to witness Rin’s transformation, he was of course always included in the dinner they had together afterwards. 

“Sounds to me like there’s a good story there, isn’t there Rin?” Kagome agreed. 

“Yes, we went to the park and I fell in the water and Miss Kagura fell and Sesshoumaru-sama rescued us…”

While she excitedly told her story, Kagura and Sesshoumaru exchanged a look. The two lovers were recalling another occurrence that involved the two of them and a body of water, in that case, a hot tub. 

Kagura was indeed looking forward to going back home and to spend more time with Rin and Sesshoumaru. There was just something she needed to do before reclaiming her righteous place: murder a kappa. She had not quite forgotten the stunt Jaken had pulled nor his accusations about her mom. Halloween was going to come early for the toad.

To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: They made up (for now) and Kagura is starting to have more confidence in their budding relationship. Will Jaken survive her return to the house? Find out tomorrow in the chapter aptly named Wrath.


	7. Wrath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hello I hope you’ve all had a nice Halloween. Here is the awaited entry for wrath! Thank you for your reviews Ravisk and KiwiWitch.

Part 7: Wrath: “I will murder you and play with your corpse”

One of the perks of having tons of money was access to space, Kagura thought to herself. Rich people didn't realize how nice it was to have a big bed where one could roll around without fear of falling. The wind sorceress remembered all too well how for the first half of her life she had never slept alone in a bed. First she had shared with her mom when they used to live in a tiny studio apartment. Then up until her mom's death she had had to share with at least one of the twins. In some places the four of them even had had to share one bed. That was in the past, now she got to luxuriate in Sesshoumaru's massive bed. 

One time while snooping she had encountered his fluffy fur in a closet in his room. It had been a revelation. She knew that all inu youkai had a Mokomoko-sama, but since modern life was not quite compatible with carrying around a bunch of fur on one's shoulder, most dog demons kept them somewhere in their house. Somewhere safe, but readily accessible. Kagura found it such a shame to have this beauty locked up in a closet. She had not been able to help herself. Before she knew it, she had placed Mokomoko-sama on the floor and had rolled around in its softness; it had been heavenly. She had reluctantly placed the fur back in the closet with the promise to come visit it again soon. Sesshoumaru must have somehow found out about her little childish fun, but he had never said anything. However one day to Kagura’s surprise she noticed that the snow-white fur had been taken out of storage and now adorned the dog demon's bed. To her delight Kagura nowadays spent a good chunk of her night snuggling Mokomoko-sama. She was not naturally a cuddler and she was glad that neither was Sesshoumaru. Thanks to his fur she got all the perks of sensing her lover's presence without the inconvenience of being the clingy girlfriend. 

It was the night before Halloween. Rin had been so excited about the party at school the next day that she would not go to bed. She had kept Kagura awake late and the wind sorceress was tired. But, not tired enough to miss playtime with Sesshoumaru. Talking about lovemaking, how glorious their reconciliation had been. She felt more connected to her lover than ever as if they were both sharing how they felt and how they had missed each other during her absence. They both might be too prideful to say it with words, but their bodies did not lie.

That night, as had become her habit, Kagura had ditched the blanket in favor of Sesshoumaru’s fur, so when her lover started moving, she felt it instinctively. That was surprising. Sesshoumaru was not a fitful sleeper; in fact she was not sure that he actually slept at all. She always fell asleep before him and woke up long after he did. Only once had she almost caught him. She had seen him lying down with his eyes closed, but the moment she had leaned over him, he had opened his eyes wide. It was creepy. 

"Sesshou?" She poked her head out from under Mokomoko-sama. The room was a bit chilly as her lover never turned on the heat, so she was loathed to leave her warm cocoon. She suspected he did it on purpose to encourage her to seek the warmth of his fur. She had not quite figured out how he and his excess fur were connected, but more than once she was sure she had seen her lover shiver when she gently ran her hand over the white fur. 

"Go back to sleep." 

She would have listened to his whispered command if he had not done something unusual. He kissed her on the forehead. Sure they did tons of kissing when they were making love and he even sometimes initiated their lip-locks, but outside of that, he never did. Something was definitely amiss. 

Kagura closed her eyes and pretended to go back to sleep. She waited until Sesshoumaru slipped into some clothes and left the room. She immediately followed after him without even bothering to change out of her nightgown. She followed him down the corridor and towards the front of the house.

A creaking door opened to her left. She whirled around and pursed her lips when she saw that it was only Jaken. When she had come back home, she had intended to murder the kappa, but was pleasantly surprised to see that Sesshoumaru had beat her to it, literally. Apparently he had taken his frustrations about her departure on the toad, who was still limping from a crushed spine. She still had been happy to add more bruises to his face. Now Jaken kept all his grumblings and scheming to himself. As soon as he realized it was her, he stepped back in search of shelter into his bedroom. Good for him, Kagura was already tempted to send another wind blade his way.

“Stupid toad.”

After wasting some time cursing Jaken, the wind sorceress rushed down the stairs to catch up with her lover. She then came upon the most surprising sight.

A beautiful dark-haired petite human woman was crying on their doorstep. How odd.

“You stole her from me, you monster.” The stranger pointed an accusatory finger at Sesshoumaru.

“Leave the premises, or I will have you arrested… or worse.”

The woman was bold. She did not back down from Sesshoumaru’s veiled threat. “How long do you think you’ll be able to keep her away from me?” 

“Do not keep trying my patience.” Sesshoumaru had had enough. He was not the kind of man to have his time wasted with such foolish displays.

“I’ll go for now, but you can be sure that I’ll be back.” With one last hateful glare, the woman turned on her heels and ran away.

“Rin’s mother?” Kagura’s guess was motivated by the strong resemblance between the woman and the little girl.

Sesshoumaru must have sensed her presence because he did not react when Kagura stepped next to him.

“Her human husband recently divorced her. He is a lawyer and had her sign an ironclad prenuptial agreement. She’s now left with nothing.” 

Damn lawyers. Kagura hated them since one had manipulated her: the father of the teenager who killed her mother in a car accident almost two decades ago. No need to think back on old grudges.

“Now that she understood I will not give her satisfaction, she won’t be back.” 

He sounded so sure, but Kagura was not. She had seen the desperation in the woman’s eyes. One did not get to this state unless strongly motivated. Lack of money was one hell of a motivator, she should know.

“Jaken will call the security company straight away. They will change all the access codes and increase surveillance.” He might dismiss the woman’s threats, but clearly he had every intention to make sure his family was safe.

“Let us go back to sleep.” He closed and locked the front door once they were back safely inside.

Kagura could tell that despite his dismissive tone, Sesshoumaru was worried. Time to work some of the tension outside of his body.

“I’m sure you can find a better way to occupy our time.”

He arched an eyebrow at her challenge. All of her previous tiredness had gone away and she would be more than happy to use Sesshoumaru as stress management.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For days Kagura had been scanning job ads looking for something she would like to do. As she did not have to worry about keeping a roof over her head and food in her belly, she did not have to take the first job that would hire her. She could take some time to think about what she would like to do for once. She needed something that required just a high school diploma, wasn’t too time consuming and enabled her to work in a field she found interesting and challenging. So far, she had found nothing, but she had not given up just yet. 

She had been at it for hours, time for a break. She picked up her phone and was shocked to see she had lost track of time. She was running late on her dinner prep. She had promised Rin they would make a special pumpkin themed dinner in honor of Halloween. Talking about Rin, she was once again late. She had recently become friends with a fellow hanyou girl named Shiori at ballet class and Kagura guessed that the two little girls were busy chatting after class and comparing how much candy each had gathered so far. Knowing Jaken, he was probably uselessly flapping his gums and yelling at Rin to get in the car so he could drive her home while the girl ignored him. Right then Kagura regretted not going to pick up Rin herself.

Her phone rang and to her annoyance she saw that it was none other than Jaken. 

“Lady Kagura, it is a calamity!”

She sighed. These days whenever he wanted to butter her up, he started with the ‘Lady Kagura’ business.

“What now? Stop squeaking and tell me what’s wrong.”

“Milady, Rin is missing.”

“What did you just say?” Kagura growled angrily.

“One minute she was chatting with her hanyou friend and the next she was gone. I only turned around for one second… I would have called Master Sesshoumaru but he is at the Lady Mother’s Sky Castle and cannot be reached…”

Shit. Right, Kagura remembered then that he had told her he was going to visit his mother and that his cell would not have reception. She recalled making a joke about visiting the mysterious castle right on Halloween. It was up to her to fix this situation. She needed back up. She hung up on Jaken and dialed another number.

“Have you heard from Rin?” She asked as soon as Inuyasha answered.

“No, why? Did you lose the kid?”

“Jaken was supposed to pick her up form ballet class, and managed to lose her.” In this moment she regretted not killing the kappa.

“Don’t know why Sesshoumaru keeps the imp around.” 

She could not agree more.

“Why’d you call? Do you think something bad happened to her?” All traces of humor had left Inuyasha’s voice. 

Fear seized Kagura’s heart. She knew what he was alluding to. Had a member of the Tashio family taken Rin to harm her? No, they had been so careful not to let any information leak. However, talking about family, there was another option on the table. Someone who needed money and desperately.

“What do you know about Rin’s biological mother?”

“Not much, but I know Sesshoumaru has had Miroku keep track of her since he paid her off. He’s a pervert, but a great private investigator. The lecher should be able to give us info on her.”

So that was how Sesshoumaru had known about her divorce and her need of money. Kagura wondered then if the human had also been the one to investigate her. Nope, she was not going down that train of thought, she had to focus on Rin, she was all that mattered.

“I just need an address.”

“Miroku should be able to get that easily. I’ll call him and let you know.”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Miroku had come through and Kagura was on her way to the address he had shared. Inuyasha was on his way as well and had specifically requested that she refrain from acting until he got there. Her answer had been a big fat ‘no’ and she had jumped behind the wheel of her car. He lived in the middle of a freaking forest on the other side of town and by the time he made it, who knew what could happen to Rin. She did send a lengthy text message to Sesshoumaru and hoped he would get it soon and come join them.

The address Miroku had gotten led to a decent size house in a middle-class neighborhood. The place must have been nice once upon a time, but lack of upkeep had left it looking shabby. Kagura rounded the house and headed to the back door. She needed to do some reckon, so she called forth a light breeze to carry the sounds coming from inside the house to her pointy ears.

“I want Sesshoumaru-sama. I want Miss Kagura.” Rin’s whimpering broke Kagura’s heart. She was glad she had found the kid, but the tears she could hear in her voice worried her.

“Just shut up!” An angry female voice snapped at Rin. “I’ve had enough of your whining. One more word out of your mouth and I’ll smack you so hard you won’t ever be able to speak again.”

Alright, Kagura had heard enough. No one was going to lay a finger on her Rin and hope to get away with it. How dare the bitch threaten her kid like this? Kagura felt as if her blood was boiling. She was going to murder this woman. She kicked the wooden back door open, happy that she was wearing her favorite pair of sturdy boots. They were perfect for an ass-kicking. 

“Who’s there?”

“Your worst nightmare if you don’t get the hell away from Rin.” 

In the blink of an eye, Kagura joined the party. It only took her a few powerful strides to make it to the living room where her little girl was being kept. Rin was sitting on the broken couch, crying silent tears, but the wind sorceress had her eyes trained on only one person: the dark-haired woman who had been yelling at Rin.

“Who are you?” Asked the woman Kagura recognized as their visitor from the previous evening. 

“Miss Kagura!” The child shouted in joy.

“Don’t worry Rin, we will be going home in just a minute.” To punctuate her statement, Kagura fished her fan from her pocket and snapped it open.

“Did you come to drop off the money?” Rin’s mother licked her dry lips. “I told Sesshoumaru he had to bring it himself.”

Clearly the woman was either insane or had a death wish. Kagura could not believe she would be stupid enough to dare try to extort money out of Sesshoumaru. 

“Rin, I want you to walk back towards where I came from. Go inside the kitchen and find a nice place to hide. I’ll come get you soon.” 

Kagura needed her to get away as she did not want the kid to be witness to what she was about to do to the crazy lady. Thankfully Rin wasted no time and did as told. Kagura was proud, she was such a good kid. 

“No, come back here you brat.” 

The woman launched herself towards Rin, but before she could make it, Kagura flicked her fan. Suddenly a thin blade of wind hit the hand the woman had outstretched in the hopes of catching Rin. The human screamed in outrage more than in pain as blood welled from the inflected wound. Kagura had kept the cut light. She liked to play with her prey before going for the kill. The woman needed to be taught a lesson and the wind sorceress was more than happy to school her. 

“You bitch, what if this leaves a scar?!” She yelled cradling her injured limb to her chest.

Lovely. Kagura was quite incredulous that the woman was more worried about the appearance of her skin than blood loss. The wind sorceress wished she had severed the damn hand completely. How would that be for a scar?

“I know who you are. You’re the witch Sesshoumaru is sleeping with. Do you think that you guys can get away with playing house with my kid?!”

“Your kid? From what I’ve heard you gave up all rights to call her yours for a fat check.”

Kagura’s reminder ticked her off. 

“Doesn’t matter. She still carries my blood. She’s mine and she’ll never be yours.” She wiped the last of the blood from her palm on the fabric of her white shirt. “I can come back anytime. Maybe next time I’ll grab her and run away from the country. We’d hide somewhere and only tell you where we were once you gave me the money I asked for.”

How unfair life was Kagura pondered. How come a loving person like her mom who would have done anything to ensure a better life for her kids had to die when a soulless monster like this woman was still around? She did not care about Rin at all, and only saw her as her own personal ATM machine. 

“There’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

Her words enraged Kagura beyond words. How dare this woman threaten their peace and happiness like this?! Well contrary to what she thought, there was a way to stop her. If the woman was not in their lives anymore, she would not be able to keep jeopardizing Rin and her well being. She was just a frail human woman. It would be so easy to shut her up for good. For the first time since she had heard Rin had disappeared, Kagura suddenly felt calm wash over her. She knew what to do. 

Just as she raised the arm holding her fan, someone grabbed her wrist. What asshole was trying to prevent her from giving the woman her due? Rage flashing in her eyes, Kagura turned towards the interloper. She was startled to see it was none other than Sesshoumaru. 

“How’d you get here so fast?” She gasped. 

“I received her ransom note, so I cut my meeting short. I borrowed from mother a means of transportation to speed my travel.”

Teleportation? Ok, now Kagura really wanted to go visit the Sky Castle. It must be full of the most amazing treasures. 

“You cannot kill her.” Sesshoumaru instructed his lover. His words were spoken harshly, but he gave her wrist a small caress with the pad of his thumb before letting go of her hand.

Kagura was surprised by his command. To her the equation was simple. The woman had kidnapped Rin and was threatening to harm her in the future. The best way to prevent that outcome was to make sure the woman was not around anymore. Sure, they were not in feudal times anymore, so youkai killing humans was highly frowned upon, but the woman deserved it. In fact Kagura was willing to stand in a court of law to explain why the killing was justified. 

“An oath was taken.”

His cryptic answer made Kagura pause. She then remembered that Sesshoumaru had mentioned something about his father’s will mandating his sons made provisions about caring for Rin and her mother. Damn it. 

“I told you there was nothing you could do about it.” 

Kagura wanted to slap the jubilant smile off the woman’s face. Fuck it, she was asking for it, and Kagura could deal with the consequences of Sesshoumaru’s anger later.

“I am not Sesshoumaru nor Inuyasha. I am not bound by the words in old man Tashio’s will. So let me be clear, if I ever see you around our Rin, I will murder you in cold blood, reanimate your corpse, beat you up again then throw away your useless carcass.” To emphasize that she meant ever word of her threat, Kagura decided to leave the lady a little gift to remember her by. In a heartbeat a wind blade formed and sliced open the woman’s cheek. This time around the wind sorceress had put enough pressure to cut deep. 

“You disfigured me!” The woman screeched holding on to her bloody cheek. “You crazy bitch.”

“Crazy? Oh you haven’t seen anything yet.” Kagura threw her head back and laughed. “If you don’t go away in the next thirty seconds, I will show you that there are fates worse than death.” 

Rin’s biological mother got the message loud and clear. Her eyes burning hot with hatred she hurried out through the front of the house.

“If this is the part where you lecture me, don’t waste your breath. I’m already regretting making just a cut on her cheek. I should’ve slashed her whole face open.” Kagura turned to face her lover. She could have asked to have the woman arrested, but taking justice into her own hands was so much more satisfying. 

“No lecture. Believe me you have done something I have wished to do for a very long time.” His nostrils flared as he took in the lingering scent of blood in the air. Good. His reaction pleased her. “Let’s go collect Rin and go home.”

That was a plan Kagura could get behind. Their Halloween dinner plans were ruined, but ordering pizza and hanging out together sounded perfect.

The front door was banged opened when none other than Inuyasha stepped inside the house.

“Keh! Did I just miss the party?”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Miss Kagura, the mean lady, she was my mom, right?”

Kagura had wondered when Rin would ask her about her ordeal. As she had planned they had spent the rest of the evening quietly at home. They ate pizza, watched kid friendly scary movies and kept Rin in their sight at all times. Sesshoumaru had not stepped foot into his study until Kagura had gone to put Rin to bed. Clearly he too had been shaken up.

Kagura carefully tucked the little girl in her bed as she thought about the best way to answer. 

“She was the woman who gave birth to you.” She did not deserve the title of mother and Kagura had no intention of bestowing it to her. “You don’t have to worry about her though. She won’t be back.”

“So I can stay home with Sesshoumaru-sama, you and Jaken?” Rin asked quietly. What kind of nonsense had the woman tried to put in Rin’s head? Nope her kid was going nowhere.

“Of course. You’re going to stay home with all of us.” Kagura would have happily kicked Jaken out, but Rin was for some unknown reason fond of the kappa. 

“Miss Kagura, I’m happy you’re not my nanny anymore, so you can be my new mommy.”

Rin’s words brought her pause. How the kid could make her heart overflow with so many emotions with only a few words was amazing. The mysterious power of love.

“You’d like that, huh?” 

Rin nodded shyly. 

“Alright then.” Kagura spoke casually, her tone of voice hiding the overwhelming emotions coursing through her. “Mommy says you need to go to sleep now. You’ve stayed late enough.” 

“Okay mommy.” Rin sat up to press a resounding kiss on Kagura’s cheek before doing as she was told and lying down to finally go to sleep.

With one last look at the child Kagura turned the lights off and closed the door behind her. She almost ran into Sesshoumaru. That was unusual as he did not usually tuck Rin in at night, but she understood why he needed to stay close to the child after what had happened that afternoon. 

“Mommy?” He arched an eyebrow.

“Yep, and I guess that makes you daddy now, so you better get used to it.” She was not sure how he would take her announcement, but she did not care. She was doing what was best for Rin. Who was she kidding; she was doing what would make her happy too. 

“That is agreeable.” 

She looped her arms around his neck and pressed a big kiss to his lips. Things were just going perfectly. Now that she was done with the ass whooping, she only needed to accomplish one thing: find a job.

To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So this chapter kind of took a life of its own and did not go as I initially planned, which explains the late update. To tie up some ends I decided to go beyond the planned chapters and add an epilogue, which I will post tomorrow.


	8. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thank you for your reviews EmberReverie and KiwiWitch fan. Heads up, little citrus warning.

Part 8: Epilogue

Kagura loved her job. She got to select the most beautiful pieces and put killer outfits together without having to pay a cent. It was heavenly. She was slightly upset that it had taken her so long to figure out what her dream job was: a high-end personal shopper. Years ago, frustrated by not finding a job that fit her, so she had headed to her favorite department store for some therapeutic window-shopping and that was when she saw the notice that they were looking for personal shoppers for their wealthier clientele. Telling a bunch of rich people how to dress and finding out about all the latest designer clothes was right up her alley. The cherry on top was the generous employee discount that enabled her to keep her wardrobe looking fabulous.

“Kagura, I don’t know how you manage to walk on those heels without breaking your neck.” Jakotsu, her favorite co-worker whispered to her. The young human and her shared a love of bold make-up, beautiful clothes and expensive whiskey. 

Her employer mandated they wear black clothes, but Kagura knew how to accentuate her boring look with gorgeous jewelry and designer red five-inch heels. Being a youkai and a former dancer made her balance perfect despite her growing awkward shape.

“Anyways, I saw the quarterly numbers, congratulations dear. I’m sure you’ll be the top saleswoman once again this year. What is it now? Third year in a row?”

The wind sorceress smirked. “Fourth year actually.”

“You’re so amazing. What am I going to do with myself when you leave?” Jakotsu whined. 

“You’ll be fine, besides you can come visit me at home anytime.” 

Kagura marched away from the break room. She didn’t have time for chitchat. She had some clients coming and she needed to secure those sales. No way was she going to let Yura the hair youkai steal her top spot as salesperson of the year. No matter what, the year-end bonus was going to be hers. Even if soon she was going to have to stop coming into work, she still had a few weeks to secure her win. 

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. Another text message from Sesshoumaru. The man had turned into such a worrywart as of late. She sent him a quick reply and let him know she would be home soon. His newfound clinginess was due to an event that had occurred a few months ago on an ordinary evening.

Kagura and Sesshoumaru were together in their bed, their bodies intertwined and moving slowly as one, their mouths fused in a passionate kiss. Suddenly the wind sorceress felt a tingle running through her body. She had already reached her peak twice this evening thanks to her lover’s talents, so she felt hypersensitive, but this sensation was something different. 

Sesshoumaru stopped his movements. He looked down at the woman in whose body he was still buried deep. 

“What is the matter?”

She could not quite put her finger on it, but something felt weird. Another tingle racked her body, starting from the place where they were joined. It then occurred to her.

“Sesshou, I think I'm going into heat.” Youkai female were not fertile monthly as humans were. Kagura’s cycle happened only every few years. She knew she would be due soon, but she had not expected it to manifest itself in the middle of lovemaking.

Her words caused a surprising reaction in her lover. Sesshoumaru suddenly lifted her left hip to push himself even deeper into her, making her moan in pleasure. He placed his left hand on their bed’s headboard to increase his leverage, and when he resumed his thrusting, Kagura was sure she could feel their bed sliding a few inches with every one of his powerful movements. Good thing Sesshoumaru had invested in a massive sturdy bed otherwise the piece of furniture would not have resisted the onslaught. Kagura tightened her legs around his waist, dug her fingers deep into his back and held on for the ride of her life. Her entire body was singing in joy as he rode her hard. She had never been more turned on in her entire life. Despite his furious pace he managed to trail his fingers from her hip to the place where they were joined to toy with her pleasure button. The effects were immediate. Kagura’s climax may have taken her by surprise, but it was absolutely glorious. Sesshoumaru followed close behind. When he came, she felt it all the way to her awaiting womb. She was glad he was in no rush to pull out as she quite enjoyed being linked to him. 

She grabbed his chin to bring his mouth down to hers. They kissed long and hard. Kagura smiled and moved her kisses all the way from his lips to the sensitive skin of his neck. She could not stop her lips from stretching into a stupid smile. Guess they were trying for a baby! Try they did. She called in sick at work, Sesshoumaru canceled all his client appointments and they had Jaken take Rin to Inuyasha's place for a few days. The two lovers did not leave their bed for the three-day duration of her heat cycle.

That's how you came along. The wind sorceress thought to herself as she gently rubbed her round belly. The baby responded with a kick against her palm. 

“Kagura!” An emotional rat youkai ran into the wind youkai’s workstation. “My dear, I have an emergency. My ex-husband’s new wife is hosting a luncheon and I need the best outfit to remind everyone she is just a knock off copy of me.”

The wind sorceress got her head back in the game. She knew the perfect outfit to make the short, hairy woman shine. Best thing, it came with a hefty price tag and a wonderful commission for the kaze youkai. 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Home sweet home. Kagura loved her job, but she loved getting home to her family most.

“Hey mom!” Rin greeted her enthusiastically as they ran into each other on the front door steps. The little girl had blossomed into an outgoing teenager. “Sorry can’t chat, I’m running late. Jaken is driving me to Sango and Miroku’s place so I can study for the physics test with Kohaku. I know Ms. Onigumo is going to come up with the hardest test ever.”

To Kagura’s surprise a few years ago her sister had applied to go teach at the academy Rin attended. The elite school had shockingly been a great fit for her. Since parents paid a small fortune to educate their kids all they cared about was ensuring they received the best possible education. Not one parent cared if the physics teacher did not smile enough. This year for the first time Rin had Kanna as a teacher and she was determined to earn a good grade in her aunt’s class; especially as she knew Kanna would not give her any preferential treatment, and that earning a good grade in physics would be a prerequisite to get into the university she had her eyes on. To her mother’s surprise Rin had decided she wanted to work in the medical research field. Her aspirations had unexpectedly been inspired by her uncle Hakudoushi and a conversation they had once had on the lack of information available on the health of youkai. Rin had decided to be at the forefront of research on hanyou metabolism and functioning to improve their medical care. Her mother could not be more proud.

“Sesshoumaru-sama is in his study, he asked to go see him when you got home.” While Rin considered Kagura and Sesshoumaru her parents, she did not call the latter dad. She had always called her older half brother Seshoumaru-sama, and decided to keep doing so. “Gotta go, don’t wait for me for dinner.”

“Alright, don’t stay out too late.” Blowing a kiss to her daughter, the wind sorceress went to meet her lover. No more late nights or weekends in the office for Sesshoumaru anymore. He brought work home whenever he could but made sure to leave some time for his family. Sure, he had not acquired a taste for Kagura’s favorite past time of lounging in front of the TV while drinking, but he always made sure she had her favorite wine on hand and some snacks. On some rare occasions he even joined her. Sunday was still family day. They spent hours together at Inuyasha’s place. To everyone’s relief Rin had now achieved almost total mastery of her youkai self, so the night of the full moon was not as nerve wracking as before. 

“Yo.” Kagura poked her head into Sesshoumaru’s study. For some unknown reason he had texted her all day to know when she would get off work. She knew he was eager for her to start her maternity leave, but still this stalking behavior was a little too much.

He was calmly sitting behind his desk, going over some paperwork.

“You have received a note from mother.”

Ugh, great. That was why he was so impatient to see her? A few months after Kagura had moved in, she had received a similar note. It had been a summons to come present herself to the Lady Mother. Sesshoumaru had accompanied her to the Sky Castle. The Lady Mother’s castle was magnificent beyond what Kagura had expected. The place made Sesshoumaru’s mansion look like a rustic cabin in the woods. The castle was richly appointed, and best of all, it was floating in the freaking sky! Kagura knew that when she grew up, she wanted one of those. 

The wind sorceress had expected the Lady to hate her, after all she was a penniless orphan who had swept up her son, but the woman had been indifferent. She had only made a quip about Kagura at least being youkai. Well she clearly had some valid unresolved issues about her late husband cheating on her twice and with human women. Kagura couldn’t blame her, but if Sesshoumaru did the same she was pretty sure she would murder him. Ever since then, from time to time the Lady Mother summoned her to share a cup of tea. The two women were cordial, but would never be friendly. The woman did have an unhealthy interest in her only son’s life.  
Kagura opened the note Sesshoumaru had handed her, hoping that it was not an invitation to go visit. 

“It is our hope that you will birth a fitting heir to our bloodline.” She read out loud. Guess that was the equivalent of ‘congratulations for the baby’. She sure was glad she had forgone the baby shower Kagome had wanted to throw her. She could only imagine what her lover’s mother would have sent her then. 

Clearly Sesshoumaru had not told his mother the news about their baby. Kagura recalled when she had gotten her first ultrasound. She had been so nervous, but all her worries had washed away when she had seen the beautiful white blob on the dark screen. When the technician had turned on the sound, and she got to hear the heartbeat of her baby for the first time, she had to struggle not to let her tears leak. She was too impatient for that ‘let’s not find out the sex of the baby until the birth nonsense’ and had asked her obstetrician to tell her straight away if she was having a boy or a girl. That had been easy to confirm, they were having a girl. As soon as she heard the news Kagura whirled her head to the side to see Sesshoumaru’s reaction. She fully expected him to be disappointed. They already had a daughter, and did all men not want a son? To her surprise his gaze was still stuck on the screen, which displayed their baby. She smiled when she saw that his eyes were suspiciously glazed. 

She had known then that he did not care either way about their baby’s sex, one who she was sure would not be as accepting was his mother.

“You should’ve told your mother it will be an heiress and not an heir.” 

“She is aware.” Sesshoumaru looked up from the letter he had been reading. “Mother is not as misogynistic as you seem to think she is. Besides, a child born of this Sesshoumaru’s blood regardless of its gender will be a fitting heir.”

She threw her head back and laughed. Of course his conceited ass would think that. 

“This came with the note.” 

He reached inside his pocket to place on his desk a small nondescript box. She snatched it and opened it, curious to see what could be inside. She whistled in appreciation. He had just handed her a huge diamond ring. She was pretty sure the Lady Mother would be able to see that rock all the way from her Sky Castle.

Clearly the old lady was letting them know she expected them to get married. Sesshoumaru and Kagura had never talked about marriage. They were quite happy with their relationship, and to Kagura the fact that they belonged together was a given.

“Well that was a not so subtle hint… what do you think?”

He put down his paperwork and rounded his desk to come stand in front of her. The added height of her heels made it possible for him to stare right in her eyes.

“That signing a piece of paper will not affect the bonds that link us.” He ran an appreciative finger from her cheek, over her curves and finally rested his hand over her belly, where their daughter was currently growing.

“However this Sesshoumaru is aware that you would enjoy planning a lavish ceremony to celebrate our union. So after you are recovered from the birth, you may do so.” He took the huge diamond from the box and slid it on her ring finger. It was a perfect fit. “This I why I asked mother to send me her ring.”

Kagura was moved by the fact that Sesshoumaru wanted to marry her. She would have been happy being his lover and the mother to his children for the rest of her life, but being his wife was just wonderful. That he wanted her to have such a precious piece of jewelry was overwhelming. The fact that his mother granted his request meant that the Lady Mother had deemed Kagura worthy of her son and gave her blessing to their union. The wind sorceress would never admit it aloud, but it felt pretty great to feel accepted into the family. Something just occurred to her.

“Don’t tell me this is the ring your father proposed with…” If it was, despite how beautiful the diamond was, she would rip it off her finger. Considering how much of a horndog the man turned out to be, the ring was probably cursed. In fact, she should probably sell it.

Did Sesshoumaru just roll his eyes at her? Damn, she was rubbing off on him. 

“Youkai did not do such things as exchanging rings or getting married back then. They simply declared they were mated. No, my maternal great-grandfather acquired this diamond centuries ago and gifted it to his mate. Ever since then it has been passed in my family on mother’s side to the first born child. I give it to you and one day our daughter shall have it too.”

That got her right in the feels. She lost her battle with her emotions, and let a single tear escape her eye. Damn pregnancy hormones made it so much harder to stay composed. With the pad of his thumb Sesshoumaru made the offending tear disappear. He might be a jerk, but he was hers and she loved him. This was not how she had ever expected to be proposed to. There was no beautiful décor, no champagne, no roses, and no man on his bended knee. However there was the man she loved, the father of her children and a priceless family heirloom. It was perfect. 

“There’s just something you’re wrong about.” He arched an eyebrow in surprise. “Our wedding won’t be just one ceremony. I’ll go all out, it will be a celebration for days.”

“Of course it will.” 

She smirked at his capitulation and leaned forward to press her rounded form into his. In an instant their mouths met in a passionate kiss. 

She was gluttonous, jealous, lusty, greedy, prideful, lazy and had a raging temper, but despite all her flaws Kagura knew she was the woman Sesshoumaru loved and she was looking forward to spending the rest of her life by his side.

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This concludes my participation in the first ever Kagura week. Thank you to the organizers, theses prompts were so much fun to play with. To all the readers thank you and I appreciate you coming along for this ride. I hope to share with you another fic sometime soon.
> 
> ~Saphira404


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